A Fool's Daughter
by jokergirl2001
Summary: The Legendary Sannin Jiraiya had a great list of both accomplishments and failures, and me? I was probably the biggest mistake in his life, even though it's all his own fault. Serves him right for not keeping it in his pants. SI-OC.
1. A geisha isn't exactly mother material

A young looking woman calmly sat on one of the three seats across from the door leading to a civilian doctor's office. Her deep red eyes, almost wine like, fixed upon the door. She looked like the epitome of calmness, but deep inside her thoughts were comparable to a raging storm.

It took all her self-control, gained from years of working as a geisha, to not show her nervousness. If she didn't have any self-control she'd be fidgeting and chewing her brown hair.

 _'After this I think I'll go for some ice-cream.'_ She decided with a nod to herself.

"Akane Miyamoto?"

The woman, Akane, snapped out of her thoughts to focus her attention on an elderly woman. The older female looked tired, having bags under her dark eyes, but nevertheless gave Akane a smile which seemed to make the wrinkles she had disappear. "Sorry for the wait, but it's your turn now."

Akane smiled at the elderly woman despite wanting to roll her eyes and point out that she's the only one left, so it was quite obvious that it was her turn. She bit her tongue, manners dictated her to be polite despite her mood.

She closed the door behind her softly, not even glancing around the old lady's office, and instead took a seat in front of the desk. Not a second later the older woman took a seat at the desk.

Akane steeled herself, this was the moment she had been anticipating for days now. Would her luck win out, or would it lose?

Exactly one minute passed in silence.

Akane quietly coughed.

"Yes?" The older woman asked with a pleasant smile.

"The results, please." Akane requested belatedly remembering that her personal doctor was weird.

 _'At least the old hag's cheaper than the hospital. More private too.'_ She reminded herself of the pros of having this particular woman as her doctor.

"Ah, right!" With a sheepish smile the doctor opened her drawer to grab a folder.

Akane nervously gulped as the woman scanned through the files.

"Are you ready?"

 _No._

"Yes Nana-san."

"You're going to be a mother!" The old hag smiled as if it was _good news_.

It almost made Akane snap at her. Being pregnant was bad news, not good news. She wasn't exactly the best mother material out there, and she certainly didn't want or need a daughter. She was perfectly content living out the rest of her life as a single woman, and probably buying cats when she's retired.

"You don't seem so happy…" Nana noted in confusion.

"I'm _overjoyed_ in the inside, I assure you." Akane smiled.

Nana hummed, still not quite believing Akane.

Ignoring this, the geisha stood up, the smile never leaving her features as she bid her doctor a good day and walked out.

Nana blinked, "I forgot to ask who the father is…" she belatedly realized. "My age's getting to me. Oh well, I'll ask her the next time!" She sheepishly laughed.

(She didn't know that she'd forget to ask the next time she saw Akane.)

 **-Two days later-**

Akane licked the strawberry flavored ice-cream in her hand, it was her tenth one that day. Normally, she'd be concerned about the calories considering being appealing to the eyes was a requirement in her line of work, but today was different.

After hours of wrecking her brains, trying to figure out who the sperm donor for her child could possibly be, she finally found her answer.

She didn't like the answer. Not in the least.

If she didn't want to keep the baby before, she definitely didn't want it now. It would be too much of a headache considering the identity of the sperm donor would surely catch a lot of attention. The baby, whether it be male or female, won't have a choice in life. He or she would become a ninja, even if he or she didn't want to.

It was cruel, but Akane was no fool. In fact she was quite an intellectual individual, and she knew that the council would do all they can to enlist the child into the ninja program. And Akane didn't care. It was better for her this way too, now she wouldn't have to pay for the kid's needs or anything like that. And she definitely didn't feel the least bit of pity for her unborn child who didn't have a choice in life.

She didn't have a choice either, but she wasn't complaining. In fact she adapted, and now she actually enjoyed being a geisha. The pay was good.

Then she remembered that she'd have to break the news to her boss.

She groaned, _'She's going to have my head on a platter for potentially costing us an important customer!'_

Jiraira was their most valuable customer after all, and who was to say he wouldn't stop coming to their place after her slip up of getting pregnant?!

 **-One Week Later-**

To her credit, the okaa-san of the okiya Akane worked at only sighed in resignation to the news.

"I expected this." She said ignoring Akane's confused expression.

"How did you know?"

"It was bound to happen at one point or another with that man," The okaa-san dryly said, "I'm surprised it took him this long to get one in the oven, accidental or not."

Akane blinked, "I am still lost."

"Jira-chan's always been on the wild side, he's been engaging in sexual intercourses for over twenty years now already, and not once had he slipped up."

Akane gaped at the piece of information, begrudgingly she had to give the Sannin some credit. Except she couldn't help but wish he would have slipped up during another sexual intercourse, not theirs.

Suddenly the okaa-san's laughter boomed through her office, "Jira-chan's luck finally ended."

"Why hasn't he settled down though?" Akane couldn't help but question.

It was a valid question considering the man could have any woman he wanted, with or without their permission due to his sheer status alone. Heck, despite his widely known perverted tendencies mothers and fathers alike would all die happy to see their daughter marry the man, and it's because of his wealth and status.

"Have you ever been in love before Akane?"

Akane furrowed her eyebrows. "I've been living here my whole life, so love's never gotten my interest before."

"Of course, but even so I think you know that love makes people stupid."

Akane wholeheartedly nodded in agreement, those were words of wisdom right there.

"And Jira-chan has the worst luck when it comes to love."

"That's not surprising."

"He's only been in love once."

"That is surprising." Akane mumbled, not comprehending what she had just learned.

The okaa-san had a wry smile, "He can't move on, but I don't blame him really. Like I said before, love's stupid."

"He's in love despite his habits?" Akane questioned, then she shook her head in realization. "It's his way of coping."

The older woman chuckled, "Partly, because he really is the biggest pervert I've ever met."

Akane blinked.

"However, if Tsuna-baka had given him a chance, I'm sure he'd have get his act together."

A geisha is always calm.

But, in that moment Akane couldn't help the widening of her eyes, "He's in love with Tsunade?"

"Ridiculous considering the tragic nature surrounding the woman, and add the unexpected fatherhood, well let's just say the chance of those two getting together was unlikely from the start."

"Ah…"

Well, Akane mused, the good news was that she didn't get into any trouble and got to hear some gossip.

She still didn't want the baby.

 **-Six Months Later-**

She was getting weird cravings.

She blamed the thing inside her stomach.

Seriously, what sort of idiot ate strawberry ramen?

 _'A pregnant idiot with cravings.'_ She thought to herself as she slurped her second bowl of ramen, and oddly enough it tasted good. Cravings were weird.

The stand owner merely shot her an odd look before going back to cook some more ramen.

"May I have peanut ramen now?" Akane asked once she was done with her strawberry ramen.

The man nodded before going back to get the ingredients.

"Hey Teuchi-oyaji, I'll have the usual, dattebane!" A redheaded woman appeared out of nowhere.

Akane blinked at the odd woman, she's never seen someone with red hair before. It was beautiful in an exotic way.

"Oh hey, I didn't see you there." The woman greeted her.

"Good afternoon." Akane politely greeted as Teuchi placed the bowl of ramen in front of her.

"You're pregnant too!" The woman cheerfully pointed out.

"…." Akane quietly dug into her food, ignoring the woman who seemed to be fond of stating the obvious.

"Ah, I'm Kushina Uzumaki, dattebane!"

"Akane Miyamoto, pleasure to meet you."

Oh, how Akane hated manners.

"Boy or girl?" Kushina asked taking a seat next to her.

"Girl."

"Mine's going to be a boy."

"Ah, congratulations."

Kushina seemed like she was going to say something more, but then a bowl was placed in front of her, and she started eating like there was no tomorrow.

Akane wanted to gag at the sight, did the redhead even taste the food? Not to mention the lack of manners.

"Know what would be cool?" Kushina suddenly asked.

"What?"

"If Naruto becomes best friends with your baby!" Kushina grinned, her tone hopeful.

"Naruto?" Akane asked in confusion.

Kushina nodded, her gaze turning downwards as she rubbed her own stomach, a loving look in her eyes.

"Oh." Akane mumbled, completely indifferent to the motherly scene.

What can she say?

She obviously wasn't like Kushina who clearly wanted and already loved her unborn child, and she wasn't going to pretend to.

She didn't want her child. Sue her.

But even so her gaze softened at the scene, even though she didn't want a child, she didn't hate children. She just didn't want to associate with them on a daily basis and commit her life to them.

"What's her name?" Kushina suddenly asked.

"Haven't decided on it yet." Akane casually shrugged before catching herself.

She normally wasn't so casual around a stranger.

"Eh? Why not?"

"Names aren't really important in my opinion. Anyone can change their names, so they bear no significance."

She took herself as a prime example. When she was a street urchin she didn't have a name, it was when the okaa-san took her in that she had been given a name, if only to have a form of identity.

"You're right, but I think it's important for a parent to name their child. It means their children are theirs, dattebane." Kushina smiled at her.

Akane could only stare at the woman in front of her.

 _'She's a weirdo.'_

She didn't feel the need to correct the woman, or inform the woman on her situation. She just listened to Kushina babble on and on about setting up play dates, and how she wanted Naruto to grow up to be just like someone Kushina once knew. And for some reason Akane now had a craving for tomato ramen.

 **-Two days later-**

Somehow Kushina Uzumaki had managed to convince Akane to meet up again. Don't ask why, even Akane didn't know why she had agreed. Kushina just had this weird charisma, something that Akane was sure Kushina's son would inherit as well.

Akane just hoped for the sake of the village that Naruto will inherit his father's personality instead. Konoha didn't need two Uzumaki running around. The geisha shivered at the thought itself, the world would be better off if Naruto inherit his father's personality.

Akane belatedly realized that she hadn't inquired about the unborn boy's father, but then ignored the thought. Kushina hadn't asked, so she wouldn't either.

"You'll love her I swear—"

 _'She's still talking?'_

"—even if she can be a bit uptight."

Akane sighed, "For the last time Kushina-san, I am sure I will get along splendidly with your friend."

"Yeah, just making sure, dattebane!" Kushina grinned.

Akane could feel her tight smile becoming genuine by the second, cementing the fact that Kushina really did have a weird effect on people.

"Are we friends?"

"No."

"Aww, why not?"

"I do not need friends." Akane coldly said, her red eyes daring Kushina to say otherwise.

Kushina didn't say anything. And as Akane walked on ahead, she didn't hear Kushina mumble: "Then why do you look so lonely?"

It's better that she didn't hear it.

Otherwise she would have snapped at the readhead for not minding her own business. As it stood, she didn't. So she was still on a semi-cordial relationship with the woman.

 _'If Naruto turns out to be like Kushina, I hope he bothers you too, you little shit.'_ Akane inwardly grumbled to her unborn child, who wouldn't stop kicking.

"Mikoto-chan!" Kushina suddenly yelled.

Akane blinked as another pregnant woman came into view.

 _'Great, just my luck that the idiot's best friends with the Uchiha clan head's wife.'_

Later on, she'd find out who Naruto's father was, and realize how rotten her luck was.

 **-Almost Two Months Later-**

"It's ugly." Akane bluntly said looking down at the baby in her arms.

She wished she could just drop it, but that would be too cruel. Instead she rolled her eyes at her cooing co-workers who seemed to think that the tiny thing covered with only a white towel was the cutest thing ever.

"I wonder if she'll take after you or her father." The okaa-san mused, a rare smile on her features.

 _'Oh great, okaa-san likes you too. For no darn reason.'_

"For her sake, I hope she takes after me. Her father isn't exactly good looking." Akane grumbled, she wasn't so cruel to wish the baby to be bad looking.

"Now, can anyone take me to the orphanage?"

"You're not going to keep her?"

"No."

Like that, a nameless baby that would undoubtedly change the world was born on the tenth of May.

 _ **-**_ **Five** **Months Later-**

Akane whooped in joy, it was good being back in business.

Being a geisha was definitely the life for her.

With a grin she licked her ice-cream, her mind wandering over to Kushina Uzumaki. She hadn't seen the woman since two months ago, and although she wouldn't admit it, she did kind of miss the woman. Then she caught herself, no way did she need a friend.

Friendship was a stupid thing.

"Mama, can we go get some dango?"

Her gaze shifted to a mother-daughter duo in front of her. Suddenly she felt empty. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Sweetie, you ate them yesterday."

"But ma!"

The scene was so warm.

 _'A daughter, huh?'_

She wondered if the ninjas had figured it out yet, or the caretakers at the orphan. Figured out who the father was. But then again, she didn't know what the girl looked like, for all she knew the baby looked like her. Maybe the baby had her hair, her eyes, her face, her intelle **- _no_ , **she wasn't going to imagine. Imagining will get her attached.

Exactly why she hadn't bother with maintaining contact or naming the baby. Only thing she took care of was money. That's it. No need for pointless attachment.

Despite telling herself that, her eyes couldn't leave the pair in front of her. She was so observed in the scene that she didn't notice her ice-cream melting.

What she did notice first however, was the eerie, raw, and scary chakra that suddenly filled the air.

And due to the maternal instinct she didn't know she had, she bolted towards the orphanage, intent on finding the child she had brought five months ago. She pushed through the panicking crowd, ignored the little ninja punks that tried to evacuate her.

Heck no, she wouldn't leave without the baby.

Her conscience would kill her.

So despite the fear she pushed forward, forcing herself to move faster.

"M'am, you have to-"

"Shut up!" She hollered at the little ninja who was trying to convince her to evacuate.

The ninja sighed in defeat, and despite his height easily lifted her up bridal style. "Where are we going m'am?" He asked ignoring the shriek.

Akane took the moment to glance at the boy, he was generic in her opinion, except he kinda seemed sick, she didn't blame him considering the situation though.

"Orphanage!"

With a nod, the boy quickly ran following directions here and there.

When they reached Akane was relieved to see the building in one piece, but her eyes flared with anger when a caretaker informed her that there were still children in the building and that she was waiting for the ninjas to come and help.

She wanted to snap at her for relying on ninjas too much, but instead she just barged in, the ninja who had rescued her following along like a puppy. She didn't question it, if the boy found her life more important than saving others, who cared?

With clarity she remembered where the baby should be, and found her laying in a crib.

Relieved filled her.

She was so relieved as she scooped the baby up that she didn't notice that the girl hadn't been crying, and was simply still. "I'm never leaving you again." Akane silently vowed looking down on the little girl who seemed to relax in her hold.

"Can we go now?" The boy asked.

Akane shifted her focus on him, and nodded.

The rest of the night was a blur to her, but she did know that the boy had accompanied her the whole night as the Hokage tried to ward off the Kyuubi.

"What's her name?" The boy asked, not making a move to join his age group as they waited for news.

"Uhh..."

She really didn't think about it.

"She doesn't have one, does she?"

Akane for once blushed, embarrassment wasn't something that she frequently experienced. She did know she would be a bad mother.

"How about Shiro?"

"Shiro?" Akane repeated looking down at the baby, it was apparent that the girl inherited her father's hair. "That's a nice name." She smiled at the boy. "Thank you, for everything."

The boy coughed. After a moment he shook his head, "Thank Mikoto-san, she was the one who told me to take care of you."

And he disappeared before she could get his name. Rude. Oh well, she'll just have to ask Mikoto herself later.

For now she was content as she smiled down at her daughter. "Your name's going to be Shirona then."

"Shiro" as they boy suggested, and "Na" as a reference to Kushina's name, because undoubtedly it was thanks to Kushina that her maternal instincts kicked in.

 _'I wonder where Kushina is, if I'm not mistaken her due day was supposed to be this week...'_

* * *

 **Chapter End**

* * *

 **Author's Note : Phew, longest chapter in a while. And yes, I know I shouldn't be writing another story, but I've got writers block for the others, and this has been in my head for a while so, gomen! I just had to write it. Hopefully now I can find inspiration for my other stories as well.**

 **R &R**

 **Have a good day~**


	2. Well, job issues anyone?

Hiruzen Sarutobi felt resigned, truthfully he was relieved when he had stepped down from his position as the Third, but now his village needed him to step up again.

"The Fourth Hokage was a great leader," He began his speech as he looked at the crowd gathered beneath him. Every single villager was here, not only to attend the Fourth's funeral, but also all the other shinobi who had died during the Nine Tailed Fox's attack.

Somewhere in the crowd, a young mother stood there listening to the Hokage's speech. Unlike the other mothers there, her child did not cry and instead was just quiet.

Like every other villager, Akane's mood was somber.

It didn't remain that way for long, because when the Third finished his speech she realized something.

 _'No one mentioned Kushina…'_

She felt annoyed. She knew Kushina had died, it was fairly obvious to her at this point. Yet why didn't they mention Kushina? Or Naruto?

Naruto….

"What happened to the Kyuubi?!" A civilian suddenly yelled.

Akane wasn't really paying anymore attention at this point, she was too busy wondering if Naruto was even still alive or not. So she didn't really hear Hiruzen's reply.

"Kill the child!"

Her head snapped up in surprise, not really trusting her hearing.

"Kill it!" The civilians started to roar.

"Silence!" The Hokage bellowed releasing enough Killer Intent to silence everyone.

Akane's back straightened. The whole village was quiet aside from the sound of crying babies. The only baby who wasn't crying was Shiro, but Akane didn't really pay attention to that tiny detail.

"That baby, Naruto Uzumaki, will not be killed. He is our hero."

Akane's eyes widened as a smile blossomed on her features. Naruto was still alive!

"From this point on, the fact that the Kyuubi is sealed within Naruto-kun will be an S-class secret. Anyone who dares to reveal this information shall be severely punished."

The smile disappeared.

A very negative emotion boiled inside Akane despite her calm expression.

She was pissed off at Minato for sealing the Nine Tailed Fox into his own child. How could Minato do that to his own son? And why would the Third disclose that information? Akane knew that Naruto was essentially doomed the moment the Third announced that. She knew that Naruto would become a pariah.

Akane knew that Naruto would have been better off if the Third had announced his heritage instead of status.

As the crowd began crying in protest Akane slipped away towards her newly bought apartment.

* * *

 _One week later….._

"What do you mean you won't take care of _our_ child?!" Akane yelled in outrage attracting the attention of every single person in the okiya she works at.

The okaa-san only sighed, a resigned look on her features. She hadn't expected much from the Sannin, and knew that the chances were slim of Jiraiya taking care of a child and woman.

"Lady, listen—"

"My _name_ is Akane, sir." Akane bitterly said, her glare not softening up a bit at the man sitting across from her.

"You can't seriously expect me to quit my job, now can you? If it's money you need—"

"Don't you dare think this is about something as petty as money. Our child needs a father figure in her life, and unfortunetly for us, you're the father. And I expect you to realize that you now have more responsibilities, not only as a shinobi, but also a father."

Jiraiya frowned at the woman in front of him.

Truthfully, he had come to this particular place in order to get drunk and forget all his problems for a bit. He didn't expect some random geisha to drop an explosion tag on him and tell him that she's the mother of his child.

He didn't even expect a baby. And he couldn't raise one. Not only was he not fit for the role of a father, but right now he needed to expand his spy network.

"The village comes first." Jiraira bit out, taking a gulp of his sake.

"Oh? You're just like Minato then." Akane bitterly said.

Jiraiya froze at the name. The name belonging to another someone he had failed.

"You both are despicable men, who would throw away their own family for this godforsaken village who spits at your sacrficises."

"I know you're mad, but you shouldn't be spewing this nonsense. Minato was a hero." Jiraiya firmly said.

"Who couldn't even save his own son." Akane pointed out calmly, her voice low enough so that only Jiraiya could hear.

Jiraiya's eyes widened at Akane's remark, truly the geisha in front of him had a silver tongue.

"Look, I..can take care of _my_ child on my own. At least…take care of Naruto, unlike my daughter Naruto doesn't have any parent figure in his life. Please, I'm begging you." Akane pleadingly requested.

A part of Jiraiya's mind noted how Akane stopped referring to the child as theirs, but the main part of his mind was focused on Akane's odd request.

"Why are you asking me this?" Jiraiya suspiciously asked narrowing his eyes at Akane.

"You're his godfather, aren't you? Kushina told me. So will you?"

"I can't. Konoha needs me." Jiraiya muttered.

"Naruto needs you more." Akane stated firmly.

"The Third will take care of Naruto."

"Oh, because he's done such a good job so far, hasn't he?" Akane bitterly smiled.

"Naruto will be safe in his hands." Jiraiya said ignoring what Akane had just said.

"So in the end you're denying your responsibility as both a father and a godfather. Pathetic." Akane mumbled looking down, her bangs covering her eyes.

"I'm sorry." Jiraiya softly said.

Akane's hands closed into fists. "I'm not. **Get out.** "

Quietly Jiraiya slipped away.

The next day he left Konoha.

He wouldn't return for at least twelve years.

* * *

 _ **Chapter End.**_

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:** Well, the last part just kind of happened, but then I decided not to change it. I mean, as a fan of Naruto, I could see that Jiraiya really wouldn't take care of Shiro. Not only because he didn't want her in the first place (and is in love with Tsunade, not Akane), but also because he took his job seriously. And besides, why would he choose to take care of Shiro instead of Naruto? Naruto obviously means more to him than Shiro._

 _Anyways, I hoped y'all liked this chapter. I never meant for Akane to be getting this much screentime, but she's fun to write. Rest assured though, Shiro's the main character, even though she hasn't made her full debut yet._

 _Thanks for all the support this story is getting! I hope y'all continue to support it._

 **Question Time~!**

 **1\. Do you like Akane? Or would you have preferred it if Akane faded into the background like most SI-OC's parents tend to?**

 **2\. How do you think Shiro will look like in the future? And act like?**


	3. NPC

Akane was never really an ideal person to choose to become a mother, well at least that's what most people who knew her thought, but then Akane apparently found some maternal instincts and decided to clean up her act, taking on her responsibilities as a mother.

Mostly at least. A castle can't be made in one day after all.

She didn't quit her job, but she did stop consuming too much liquor and smoking less. That was a feat in itself. And despite her job, she wasn't in the least neglecting. From morning till just after the sun sets she stays by Shirona's side, reading a book while looking over her well behaved baby. Then when she had to work, she would call in that boy who helped her reach Shirona in time, and he would babysit Shirona for her.

In fact, he practically lived with Akane and Shirona, seeing as he often stayed over at the mother-daughter duo's rundown apartment.

All in all, despite the shaky start on Akane's journey to motherhood, and the fatherless household, Shirona had a pretty normal babyhood.

Except Shirona wasn't a normal baby, something which an amateur mother like Akane was dense about.

It wasn't until a rare Sunday morning, when Akane was out grocery shopping alone that she bumped into someone that she hadn't seen for months.

Mikoto Uchiha.

"Akane-san, it's been a long time." Mikoto politely smiled.

Akane nodded, still surprised about the sudden encounter and feeling quite awkward without Kushina there, and took in Mikoto's appearance. It seemed like Mikoto hadn't slept for days, despite the smile the Uchiha matriarch had. The most eye catching detail about Mikoto would be that she was carrying a baby.

"Mikoto-san," Akane nodded politely, "How have you been?"

Akane could feel some people glancing at them, some casting suspicious looks at Mikoto. Everyone knew that the Uchiha clan was being suspected as the culprits for the incident that happened two years ago. Even Akane herself suspected that it was an Uchiha.

Not Mikoto though, because Akane couldn't believe that the woman in front of her would kill her own best friend.

If Mikoto was surprised that Akane chose to keep the conversation going, then she didn't show it. "I've been stressed lately." The woman admitted quietly.

"Oh?"

"Sasuke-chan's always crying. But I suppose you know how babies are, always crying."

Akane blinked. "Yes, yes they are." She quietly said, lying straight to Mikoto's face.

 _'Babies cry a lot?'_

Yeah, Akane really didn't know much about babies. She did know however that her daughter, Shirona, has never ever cried before.

"Well, I feel bad about cutting our conversation so short, but I really need to get going now." Mikoto apologetically said.

"I'll see you around then."

Somehow the smile that Mikoto gave her seemed more genuine. "I'd like that."

.o0o.o0o.

Shirona knew she wasn't normal.

She had memories, which didn't belong to her, stuck inside her head. These memories were what made her not normal. These memories were what made her what she was today. They also made her feel sorry for the person the memories belonged to, after all the person had a sad life.

Shirona also knew her mother didn't want her at the start.

She wasn't sure exactly what changed, but her mother came back for her. Shirona still held on to the fear that one day her mother would wake up and abandon her all over again.

Shirona knew she lived in a world, which was considered fictional somewhere out there in the vast universe, or alternative realities, or such.

Her world was the same as the strange show the person in her memories would watch. A world revolving around a boy her age, Naruto Uzumaki, right?

Shirona didn't know why she was born.

Logically speaking, "Shirona" should be dead, shouldn't she? And the person was supposed to be in control of Shirona's body right?

Shirona wasn't sure about her role in life.

She was sure normal babies shouldn't be thinking complicated stuff like that.

"Shiro, you're staring at the wall again."

Shirona blinked, shifting her focus towards Hayate, a "character" from the _fictional_ world the person used to watch, but to Shirona, this man was her godfather, as young as he was.

Shirona would freely admit she was very fond of Hayate. Perhaps she was more fond of Hayate than her own mother.

"Well, how about a story?" Hayate suggested.

Shirona nodded, her expression not even shifting.

.o0o.o0o.

Akane noticed it the day after her encounter with Mikoto.

It was subtle. But it was there. Shirona was wary of her, always glancing at the door when she was around, as if Shirona suspected that she would just walk out of her life.

Akane felt guilty for that.

"Shirona-chan…" Akane mumbled as Shirona glanced at the door for the tenth time, "I'm not leaving, okay?"

Shirona's eyes snapped towards her. Their similar sharp eyes staring at each other. Shirona searching for something, and after a moment it seemed like she found it, because she mutely nodded.

The simple action made Akane feel so relieved. "I love you." The words slipped past Akane's lips easily, even though it was the first time she's said them.

Shirona seemed taken aback, but then she opened her mouth to say her first words.

"Okaa-san, I love you."

Akane's eyes widened at the declaration. "Shirona…" She smiled taking her child in her arms, hugging her. "You said your first words."

Shirona nodded in Akane's arms, suddenly feeling tired for some reason.

It was odd.

Shirona was never out of energy.

"Shirona?"

Shirona wondered why everything suddenly seemed so dark. It was scary.

"Shirona!"

Shirona also wondered why her mother raised her voice, her mother never does that.

"Hayate, help!"

Shirona's eyes closed.

.o0o.o0o.

"She's going to be alright, right?" The geisha desperately asked the medic-nin in front of her.

"Yes, of course. It seemed like she just fainted."

Akane's shoulders relaxed. Relief overflowed her entire system.

"In fact, you can go in to see her right now. As soon as she wakes up, she's okay to go home."

Akane nodded, murmuring a thank you to the medic she entered the room her daughter was staying in.

Seeing Shirona sleeping so peacefully made Akane realize something.

 _'Children are fragile, aren't they? Physically and emotionally.'_

Shirona's eyelids slowly opened, her wine red eyes apathetically staring at the ceiling. "I see…"

Akane didn't hear Shirona say that.

.o0o.o0o.

Shirona was dying.

Or rather, she was never real to begin with. Just a temporary personality before the main one kicked in.

Shirona didn't even have a role in life. Shirona didn't really feel anything to this fact. Everything felt real to her, even if she was a fake.

"Shirona, don't you dare scare me like that again."

Shirona felt two arms wrap around her, and it felt real.

"Okaa-san…" Shirona murmured returning her mother's embrace.

They didn't let go.

Shirona was a mature child. Or fake. She knew that now her role was over, and that her time was fading. Soon enough, "Shirona" would cease to exist. And nobody would notice. It made her relieved, because then nobody would have to grief for her.

But….before she went away forever, she had something to do.

"Okaa-san? Do you love me?"

"Of course, I love you, so, so much." Her mother assured her in a soft tone. "You're my precious daughter."

Shirona nodded, a serious look on her feature. "Okaa-san? Will you love Shiro-chan forever?"

Her mother nodded, "Forever and always."

For the first time in her life Shirona smiled, "I'm tired." She mumbled as her eyes began closing, her job was finished. Shirona was simply happy with the fact that the person could have a chance to live a happier life filled with love.

 _'Shiro-chan, be happy.'_

She closed her eyes.

Unbeknownst to everyone around her, Shirona was gone.

Shiro opened her eyes.

 ** _.o0o.o0o._**

 ** _Chapter End_**

 ** _.o0o.o0o._**

 ** _Author's Note:_** _That's it for today, I guess? I know it would have been better if I focused more into the whole "Shirona" fake personality thing, but it would have taken too much time. So I hope it wasn't hard to understand what happened in this chapter._

 _THANK YOU FOR ALL THE SUPPORT!_

 ** _Question time~!_**

 ** _1._** ** _Did you expect Hayate to be the boy from the first chapter?_**

 ** _2._** ** _What do you think Shiro will specialize in as a shinobi?_**


	4. Shiro's week

_'What the hell is going on?'_ Shiro wondered staring at the pretty lady who was smiling at her.

She knew that the woman was her mother. But she didn't remember her really. It was like knowing the fact, not the memory.

Another fact she knew was that her name was currently Shirona. She was three years old. She lived in a crappy apartment with her mother and apparently a fictional character from an anime. Her mother worked at night, so maybe a prostitute? And Hayate babysat her often.

That was the extent of her knowledge, the most useful one being the fact that she was in a fictional world for some reason.

 _'Again, what the hell is going on? Didn't I die?'_

Before she could ponder on the thought the woman, her mother, gave her a kiss on the forehead.

Shiro flushed at the affectionate gesture, her original mother had never been this nice, then again her original mother was always mean.

"It's time to leave Shirona-chan." The lady informed her.

Shiro frowned, she didn't really like being called that name for some reason. It didn't feel like that name belonged to her. "Shiro." She blurted before she could help herself.

"Pardon me?" The lady asked in confusion.

 _'She speaks pretty formal.'_ Shiro noted.

"Call me Shiro." Shiro mumbled averting eye contact with the lady.

"Right. It's time to leave Shiro-chan, or do you plan on living in the hospital?" The lady asked, humor lacing her tone.

Shiro quickly shook her head, she didn't like hospitals. Not one bit. "Let's leave!" She suggested loudly, taking the lay by surprise.

 _'Ah crap, did Shirona not raise her voice?'_ Shiro was worried that the lady would see through her, so she just stayed quiet.

Apparently thatwas normal since the lady didn't question it. The lady just signed a few papers at the front lobby, and then they were off.

Shiro couldn't help but observe everything around her with childish curiosity, this was the famous Konohagakure from the famous Naruto series after all. What sort of fan wouldn't want to see the village the protagonist grew up in?

Konoha was pretty lively. Aside from that, much to her disappointment, Shiro found it to be pretty much like the anime had portrayed. A part of her was hoping that there was something else , something exciting that hadn't been showed in the anime. She was wrong.

Her shoulders slumped.

Then she noticed something.

People were whispering and glancing at her and the lady. With a frown Shiro grabbed the lady's hand, squeezing it for comfort. Not that the lady seemed to realize the comfort gesture considering the lady gave her a reassuring smile.

 _'I'm trying to comfort you, not the other way around pretty lady.'_ Shiro flushed realizing she had called her current biological mother pretty in her head. She glanced away. _'It's because I'm not used to this damn it. I hate blushing.'_ She inwardly grumbled.

"Mikoto-san?"

At the familiar name Shiro looked up to see the infamous Mikoto Uchiha picking out tomatoes from a vegetable stand. _'Please, please, please not hear that the pretty lady just called out to you.'_ Shiro even crossed her fingers. As cool as it would be to meet Mikoto Uchiha, Shiro didn't want to get involved with the Uchiha clan. It would be a hassle.

Luck was not on her side, for Mikoto had turned to look at the pretty lady.

 _'Fuck my life.'_ Shiro sighed in resignition.

"Akane-san?"

Akane?

So that was the pretty lady's name. It suited her, considering her eyes were deep red.

"Have you been sleeping well?" Akane aksed approaching Mikoto.

Shiro grimaced as she was dragged along. For some reason the whole situation felt like the ones out of those fanfictions she read. _'Next thing I know they'll want to introduce me to a mini-Sasuke.'_

"Surprisingly yes, Itachi's been helping me out with Sasuke-chan." Mikoto answered before his gaze landed on Shiro, "This must be your daughter."

Shiro was resigned. _'Of course for some unexplained reason the pretty lady happens to know the wife of the head of the Uchiha clan, this whole thing feels like a setup for a fanfiction….'_

"Yes, this is Shirona. Shirona, this is Mikoto Uchiha. Say hello." Akane blinked in confusion as her daughter's eyes turned half lidded, almost looking like dead fish eyes. Almost.

"Yo." Shiro greeted giving Mikoto a salute. "Just call me Shiro, Mikoto-san."

Both adults blinked at the greeting. Not that they were judging anyone based on their appareances or anything, but Shiro didn't really seem like the type to be so casual. Both adults didn't comment on it though, not wanting the other adult to think badly of them, not realizing that both were thinking the same thing.

"Shiro, that's a nice name." Mikoto commented lightly, turning back to Akane.

Akane smiled, "Hardly, it was Hayate who came up with it."

"I am glad that I sent him that day."

"So am I, otherwise both Shiro and I would be dead."

Shiro blinked. _'Wait, what are you two talking about?! Stop being so damned vague!'_ She inwardly screamed at them, a dumb expression on her face.

"You work at night, right? Who looks after Shiro?"

"Hayate. Though I'll have to hire a Gennin to look after Shiro for a month, apparently Hayate has a Chunin exam coming up in two weeks."

"There's no need for that. I can look after Shiro for you."

"Really? I don't want to be a bother."

"Nonsense."

Both adults smiled at each other.

Shiro wasn't even surprised at the turn of events. She already saw it coming really. In fact she tuned the two out as they talked about their schedules, and instead decided to observe the villagers who were glancing at Mikoto and Akane.

Shiro had to give them credit, they were being pretty subtle compared to how the series portrayed them. But she picked up the signs anyways, it wasn't hard to really.

 _'What the hell is going on?'_ She couldn't help but wonder again.

She still didn't comprehend her situation.

"Well, it was nice chatting with you Akane-san, but I best be going home now. Itachi needs a break."

Akane merely nodded politely at Mikoto.

"It was nice meeting you Shiro." Mikoto added, sending Shiro a smile.

"Yeah." Shiro awkwardly agreed.

.o0o.o0o.

 _'Fuck. He knows.'_ Shiro felt herself sweating as Hayate stared at her.

For a fourteen year old the guy was intimidating as hell. More importantly, he knew. Shiro could just tell that he knew. The way he was looking at her as if he knew something gave it away.

Finally he opened his mouth.

Shiro could feel her heart beating faster.

"You're not going to stare at the wall today?"

"I swear I can explain!" Shiro immediately exclaimed.

Hayate looked at her, "I'm sure you can." He said without missing a beat.

Shiro flushed, registering what he had just asked. _'All this time he was wondering about a wall? And why the hell did Shirona apparently had an interest in walls?'_ She couldn't help but deadpan in her head.

Outside she gulped, still heavily sweating, "Uh, ah, you're more interesting?" She offered.

Hayate placed his palm on her forehead.

She flinched away, at first thinking he was going to knock her out or something. Yeah, she's watched one too many movies.

"You're not sick."

"Since when were you a medic?"

"Since when were you so talkative?" Hayate shot back.

Shiro immediately shut her mouth. She averted eye contact with the boy, it was odd for her to be quiet. She didn't like being quiet.

Hayate frowned, "It isn't a bad thing, you know?"

"So I'm allowed to talk?" Shiro innocently asked.

"Of course, though I'm not used to you talking."

"Well, get used to it bud! The new Shiro's a chatterbox from hell!" Shiro grinned at Hayate.

Surprised, Hayate could only nod at her.

Shiro yawned. "Welp, I'm tired. Tuck me in."

Still surprised Hayate did as told.

As Shiro looked at the dark ceiling that night she didn't wonder what was going on. She just suddenly realized that it was going on. She was in a different world which she knew about from her old world.

 _'Question is, what am I supposed to do now?'_

Should she try to fix things?

Leave things be?

Screw the storyline over?

She sighed, why was she even thinking about this? It didn't considering she felt like crying for no reason, maybe it was the stress getting to her.

 _"Shiro-chan, be happy."_

The words brought a sense of comfort to Shiro.

She smiled. _'Guess it doesn't really matter, does it? I just have one job.'_

Somehow her job seemed tougher than trying to fix the story.

.o0o.o0o.

One her first day in the weird world, Shiro woke up to the aroma of rice. Her stomach growled. Shiro knew one thing. She wanted food.

She got out of her bed and made a beeline towards where the scent was coming from.

Pretty lady, her mother she reminded herself, was cooking breakfast.

Hayate emerged from behind her, looking puzzled. "Akane-san, you're cooking?" He asked in confusion.

"Yes, now sit down kids." Akane smiled.

"Why?" Hayate asked, but he obeyed as he sat at the table with Shiro on his lap.

Shiro didn't squirm. She was hungry. She wanted food.

"Mikoto-san said that a proper mother cooks their children's meals at least twice a day."

"Ah, I see." Hayate mumbled.

"Dig in." Akane ordered placing down a tray of stirred rice in front of Hayate.

Hayate nodded, and using a pair of chopsticks he placed the food in his mouth. Shiro watched in fascination as Hayate's face turned green as he forced the rice down his throat.

 _'It can't taste that bad.'_ Shiro thought to herself as she grabbed her spoon and scooped up some rice from Hayate's plate. She placed it in her mouth.

She promplty spat it out.

It tasted _awful_.

"Is something wrong?" Akane sweetly asked.

Shiro sent the woman a pleading look. "For the love of all that is sweet and pure, never cook again."

Hayate coughed in agreement.

Akane frowned at them, scooping up her own rice, "It can't be that—" She paused, slowly chewing the food and then swallowing it. "Bad. It's edible." She finished with a strained smile.

"Even you don't like it!" Shiro accused.

"Now, kids, we can't waste food." Akane continued to eat, her face becoming greener with each bite she took.

"Mama, you don't have to force yourself." Shiro sweatdroped.

.o0o.o0o.

On her fourth day in the weird world revolving around a blonde troublemaker, Shiro decided to try meditating.

She crossed her legs. Closed her eyes. And nothing happened.

She frowned. _'Oh right, I'm supposed to clear my mind and concentrate.'_ She sheepishly realized.

Nothing happened.

She groaned in she should stick with trying to stick paper to her hand with chakra.

.o0o.o0o.

On her fifth day she gave Akane a serious look.

"How old are you?"

Akane's smile twitched. "How about a story?"

"Sure, after you tell me how old you are."

"I'm twenty one."

"That means you had me when you were eighteen."

"Is something wrong with that?"

"No, that's actually cool."

Akane blinked in surprise.

"It means you won't be turning into an old hag soon, and that you'll stay pretty for longer, and that you're going to become a youthful grandmother if I decide to have kids."

Akane smiled in amusement. "That's a different way of seeing it."

Shiro shrugged.

.o0o.o0o.

On her seventh day she decided to try sticking the paper to her hand with chakra. She didn't wait until then because she was scared of chakra or anything! That would be stupid. Haahahaha, moving on.

It didn't work.

The paper had the nerve to get blown away.

She glared at it and tried again. (She was just stubborn like that.)

It got blown away again.

Shiro huffed in frustration, "How does someone like Sakura get this on her first try, and not me?" She didn't hate Sakura or anything, but…

"Why can't I have perfect chakra control? I'd make better use of it."

Shiro paused.

 _Perfect…chakra…control._

She facepalmed, of course she would miss something like that. Sakura did it effortlessly because of her chakra control. Shiro apparently didn't have perfect chakra control, so that meant she had to be cautious of the amount which she applied.

.o0o.o0o.

On her ninth day she decided to stalk Hayate during the day when Hayate disappeared.

She smirked as she followed the clueless boy. _'And he calls himself a ninja.'_ She inwardly cackled following him all the way to a training ground surrounded by the forest.

She had to hold back her surprise as she saw Ibiki Morino and Shikaku Nara was waiting for Hayate.

"You're late idiot." Ibiki sternly said.

From her spot behind a tree Shiro narrowed her eyes at Ibiki. For some reason she really didn't like the boy. Only she was allowed to insult Hayate.

"And you brought a guest." Shikaku drawled.

"Ah, right. Sensei, Ibiki, this is Shiro. Shiro, this is my sensei and teammate. Be nice."

"You knew I was following you?!" Shiro cried out.

Shikaku, Hayate, and Ibiki seemed to stare at her for a moment. Hayate then nodded yes, "I thought I'd humor you."

Shiro sulked, "And here I thought I was an awesome child, a prodigy or something. Y'know, like that Uchiha dude everyone can't shut up about."

"You mean Itachi Uchiha?" Hayate guessed.

"Yeah, that weasel." Shiro nodded.

"Itachi's in a whole different league from a brat like you." Ibiki said.

Shiro glared at Ibiki. She really didn't like the boy. "Piss off." She growled at him walking over to Hayate.

"Be nice." Hayate reminded her flicking her forehead.

"Whatever, he deserved it." Shiro crossed her arms before looking at Shikaku. "How can you put up with _that_?" She asked referring to Ibiki.

"It's troublesome, but you get used to it." Shikaku said humoring the girl.

"Scar-sama, you truly are someone to look up to." Shiro seriously said.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere kid, and what's with the nickname?"

"It's a sign of respect?"

"Troublesome."

"I knew you'd see it my way."

Ibiki's eye twitched. "Go home already brat." He ordered. "You're disturbing our training."

"And you do know that Sensei's troublesome really means troublesome, right?" Hayate asked, because priorities.

"About that, I don't know how to get back home." Shiro admitted with a sheepish grin. "So can I stay? Please, please, please? I promise I won't get in the way!"

Hayate frowned, "I don't know—"

Shiro averted eye contact with Hayate, "You never have time for me." She smiled. The only one who saw her smile was Shikaku who was too amused to call her out on it.

"Sensei?" Hayate asked.

"Don't get in the way."

"Don't I get a say?" Ibiki grumbled.

"No one likes you." Shiro stuck her tongue out at Ibiki.

Ibiki glared at her. It was clear that the dislike was mutual on both sides.

.o0o.o0o.

Akane blinked as Shiro squealed in the mirror.

"What's wrong Shiro-chan?" She asked, a worried look on her features.

"I have _white_ hair." Shiro grinned.

"Yes, I suppose so." Akane agreed still not sure why Shiro was so happy.

"Do you know what this means mama?"

"What?"

"I'm from the Kaguya clan! I'm awesome!" Shiro cheered.

"Kaguya clan?" Akane frowned, "No, you don't belong to any clan Shiro-chan."

"But I have white hair!"

 ** _.o0o.o0o._**

 ** _Chapter End_**

 ** _.o0o.o0o._**

 ** _Author's Note:_** _Phew, what a long chapter. Hope y'all enjoyed it._

 ** _Question time~!_**

 ** _1._** ** _Did you expect Shiro's personality to be like this?_**

 ** _2\. How do you think Shiro's relationship would be with the Konoha 12?_**


	5. It's chakra, not catra

Hayate and Akane shared a worried glance as Shiro continued playing with her food, a gloomy aura surrounding her.

Akane arched an eyebrow. _What's wrong with her?_

Hayate shrugged. _I don't know._

Akane frowned. _Do something._

Hayate looked surprised. _You're her mother._

"Maybe I should try cooking lunch again tomorrow." Akane mused, a sweet smile on her features.

"Shiro, are you okay?" Hayate immediately asked, ignoring how pale he became at Akane's threat.

"I'm fine." Shiro insisted.

"Is this about you not being a Kaguya?" Hayate asked, an amused look on his face. "We can't all be born from strong clans, you know?"

"I _am_ a Kaguya, thank you very much. I just haven't unlocked my special bone powers yet, that's all. Just you wait, one day I'll be sprouting bones all over the place. I just have to drink my milk." Shiro nodded to herself, a determined look on her face.

Hayate opened his mouth to explain to Shiro exactly why the kid couldn't possibly belong to the Kaguya clan, only to be interrupted by Akane stepping on his feet. He quietly hissed in pain as Akane gave Shiro a motherly smile.

"Don't forget about the other nutrients you need to grow, like vegetables."

Shiro's nose scrunched up in disgust. "But I _hate_ vegetables, they're disgusting!"

"You need to eat them if you want to become a strong ninja one day." Hayate added, playing along with Akane.

"Eh? How did you know I want to become a ninja?" Shiro suspiciously asked.

Hayate couldn't help but sweat drop, "You aren't exactly subtle." He remarked to Shiro who still seemed suspicious of him.

"Bah! Whatever, I'll never become a ninja anyways! I'm a failure, a failure I tell you!" Crocodile tears started streaming down Shiro's face. "I can't even use catra!"

"It's not catra, it's chakra." Hayate automatically corrected. "Besides, of course you can't use chakra yet, you're only three."

"But everyone has chakra!"

"Having isn't the same as being able to use it Shiro. It's like baking cookies, you can't immediately eat the cookies, you have to wait until the dough hardens before you eat them. Basically it's the same concept for chakra, everyone has it to live, but the coils need to be developed before you can utilize it."

Shiro's mouth fell open into an 'o', finally getting why she couldn't do any chakra control exercises even when she tried hard without stopping. "When can I use catra?" She asked, not fighting the excited grin that formed on her face.

"Well, it depends really. Some people are late bloomers. But typically, clan kids are able to start utilizing their chakra at the age of four, while kids of normal heritage are able to utilize theirs at the age of five, with some special exceptions here and there. Oh, and it's _chakra_ , not catra."

Shiro's shoulders slumped. "So I have to wait two whole years?!" She cried in despair.

Akane patted Shiro's head reassuringly, while she didn't actually get the whole being a ninja thing and didn't really want Shiro to become a ninja, she did try her best to support Shiro in every way possible. In reality she would have supported Shiro even if Shiro wanted to become a stripper or something.

"While chakra is an important part of being a ninja, it isn't the only part Shiro. There's still taijutsu, shurikenjutsu, and even kenjutsu." Hayate listed off, "Not to mention physical abilities aren't the only part of being a ninja, there's also the academic part. Maths, geography, history, reading, writing , and even mannerisms are important."

Shiro looked up at Hayate, a hopeful look in those deep red eyes of hers, "So I'm not a failure?" She softly asked.

"No." Hayate firmly said. "No one's a failure. Everyone has at least one thing they're good at, something that they can specialize in. If one thing doesn't work out, you just have to try something else. There's bound to be something you're good at. There's no such thing as a failure, okay?"

Shiro nodded, a surprised look on her features.

 _('Goes to show that Kishimoto really did neglect the other characters personalities. Who would have thought that Hayate was an individualist? Not to mention how gentle he is, it kinda makes me feel bad for manipulating him like that.')_

"Hayate?" Shiro asked, a smile tugging on her features.

"Yeah?"

"You're a weirdo."

"Look who's talking?"

"I'm awesome, what's your excuse?"

"I have an illness."

Akane softly smiled at the bickering duo, if she was the her of four years ago she would have scoffed at anyone who told her that she would one day be enjoying a domestic scene like these with people she actually cares about, but right now she knew that she wanted these types of scenes to last.

She knew she screwed up a lot in life, she was a freaking geisha working in the red light district for crying out loud! But if there's one thing she learned, even a mistake can end up being something good given the right amount of effort.

Shiro was living proof of that after all.

However…

Her eyes slid onto Hayate's smiling form.

 _'I wonder, is Shiro-chan still only a mission to you?'_

She hoped not. Considering it would break Shiro's heart if that were the case.

.o0o.o0o.

 _'So I can't do any chakra stuff, but Hayate said there's still a bunch of other stuff. I mean it all depends on what I want to specialize in, right? There's a whole bunch of choices. Taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, shurkienjutsu, kenjutsu, fuinjutsu, and maybe even senjutsu if I can get my hands on a summoning contract. Not to mention if I unlock my Kaguya kekkei genkai.'_

Shiro giggled to herself, she was definitely going to do her best in becoming a very strong ninja. Her aim was to at least be on par with Tsunade one day. Or maybe Kakashi. Then again those two were badasses, so she really had her work cut out for her.

 _'I mean that Kaguya guy, Kimimaro, was at least Kage level, right? And that was using his kekkei genkai only. Damn, I really scored a lot on the superpower lottery. I'm practically destined to become badass.'_

Shiro hummed to herself, she couldn't wait to become strong. Of course she knew that no matter how strong she gets, just like in Sasuke's case, there's always going to be an Itachi in her path. That was a fact in everyone's life.

But, if she played her cards right, she could be really strong.

 _'Taijutsu is mostly martial arts, isn't it? So I'm sure I can start with it as soon as possible when I'm alone. Ninjutsu is out considering I still can't use my chakra. Genjutsu is out too, besides it probably won't help me at all during the war. Shurikenjutsu is basically just throwing things, I'm sure I can guilt trip Hayate into helping me with it just like Sasuke did to Itachi, same goes with kenjutsu considering Hayate's apparently an expert in it. I'll have to wait until someone says something about fuinjutsu before trying any seal thing, wouldn't want anyone getting too suspicious of me, and same goes for senjutsu.'_

Shiro sighed to herself. That left only taijutsu, kenjutsu, and shurikenjutsu. And considering she didn't want to bother Hayate until after he becomes a Chunin (she had no doubt he would become one, he was three years younger than Ibiki after all), she'll have to focus on the academic part of being a ninja.

She simply shuddered at the thought.

Oh, how she hated studying. She wasn't smart. In fact, she barely managed to get into college. Not that it mattered considering she kinda died. Kinda. Maybe. Possibly. Okay, fine. She died.

If there was one thing she was glad for, it was that she didn't need to study anything else after she graduates from the ninja academy. She just had to worry about killing, completing missions, not dying, training, and other typical ninja stuff.

Well, it was better than studying, right?

Shiro nervously laughed, it _had_ to be better than studying. But for now….

Shiro gulped, and looked at Hayate, her eyes willing him to say no.

"What?" Hayate asked pausing in his kenjutsu training.

"C-could we, umm, go to the library?" Shiro nervously stuttered out.

 _'Please say no, say no, say no, say no.'_

"Sure, I needed some last minute cramming anyways. According to Shikaku-sensei, there's always a written part in the exams."

 _'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.'_

Hayate wondered why Shiro seemed upset, it was her idea after all. Shrugging it off, because frankly Shiro was a weird kid despite her energetic tendencies, Hayate lifted the three year old up, and leisurely walked to the library.

It was maybe a thirty minute walk at a civilian pace, but Hayate was willing to kill that time considering Shiro immediately perked up and began looking at her surroundings with a lot of interest.

Hayate smiled slightly, because Shiro really didn't get the chance to look around the village much when Akane accompanied her, simply because the civilians were associating Akane with the Uchiha clan just because of Akane's friendship with Mikoto.

 _(Akane sneezed. "Are you okay?" Mikoto worriedly asked. "Yes, must just be a small cold. Let's continue shopping, shall we?")_

"Ne, ne, the village's really pretty, huh?" Shiro grinned at him idly sitting on top of his left shoulder.

"Yeah, it is." Hayate agreed as Shiro looked at the Hokage Monument, a fond look on her features.

 _'I'll have to drop off my report to the Hokage later, it's a pain really. I kind of feel like a stalker, reporting everything a three year old does. But a mission's a mission.'_ Hayate thought to himself, managing to keep his casual face on.

.o0o.o0o.

Shiro didn't really hate books, per say. It was more like there were tons of better stuff to do, like watching Youtube videos, playing games, and the internet.

 _'Too bad there isn't any of that stuff here, and Akane really doesn't want to buy a TV..'_

"The library's divided in different sections Shiro. History, maths, myths, romance, and about any kind of genre of books. Just pick up the ones you're interested in, and we'll get you a library card."

Shiro tuned Hayate out as Hayate began explaining what a library card is.

 _'Too much books…'_ Shiro thought to herself, tears welling in her eyes at the sheer amount of books. And yet it was nothing compared to the ones in her previous life. It was still too many in her opinion though.

.o0o.o0o.

"Shikaku-sensei, sorry I'm late." Hayate apologized dragging a pale Shiro along.

Shikaku didn't comment on the girl's paleness, because it really wasn't his business. Frankly, despite all the reports on the girl, he really suspected that there was more to the girl's happy go lucky personality than she let on. _'Or maybe she really takes after her father.'_

Shikaku Nara of course read every single report Hayate gave about Shiro, it was kind of troublesome but necessary considering how everyone who had a say in Konoha's affairs were expecting some kind of second coming of Itachi out of Shiro. Really, they tended to forget that Jiraiya was considered a failure before he became a legend.

"Too many books, too many books, too many books," Shiro kept on muttering, her face growing paler by the minute.

"Someone who is scared of books isn't cut out to be a ninja." Ibiki taunted, his face scrunched up in disdain as he eyed the white-haired brat in front of him.

"I am too cut out to be a ninja! Just you wait, I'll become the strongest kunoichi ever, and one day I'll kick your ass!" Shiro yelled.

Hayate flicked her forehead. "Language."

Shiro pouted.

Ibiki snorted.

Shiro glared again. "Never seen a kid get scolded?"

"You're such a brat."

"It comes with the job description."

"A brat can't become a ninja."

Shiro smirked, it wasn't just any kind of smirk, it was a knowing one. Shikaku was incline to compare it with the ones his fellow Nara clansmen had when they knew they were about to win. "Just wait, and see. I'll prove you wrong once I unlock my catra and awaken my kekkei genkai."

"It's not catra, it's chakra." Hayate corrected.

"Kekkei genkai?" Ibiki raised an eyebrow. "A pint sized brat like you doesn't have one." He coldly said.

"Of course I do, I'm from the Kaguya clan!"

"Says who?"

"ME! I have WHITE HAIR for crying out loud!"

Shikaku couldn't help but chuckle, effectively breaking up Ibiki and Shiro's bickering with the rare noise of amusement, "Shiro, right?" This was the first time he's ever directly addressed her since the day she started coming to watch him and his students practice.

Shiro looked surprised, but nodded.

"You're _not_ —"

"Shikaku-sensei, could you help me out with my shurikenjutsu, I think I've gotten a bit rusty." Hayate quickly said cutting his teacher off.

Shikaku looked at him for a moment.

"I'm not what?" Shiro asked.

"Supposed to be standing there. Go watch us train from a distance." Hayate interfered before Shikaku could answer.

Shiro looked sheepish before she walked off, muttering an 'oops' under her breath.

"Why did you stop Sensei from telling her that she's just an orphan with no clan name?" Ibiki asked, an irritated look on his face. It frankly annoyed him that the kid actually believed she belonged to a clan, when in reality both her parents were probably civilians.

"It's better this way, she won't do anything reckless if she thinks she has a kekkei genkai." Hayate said.

"Anything reckless?" Ibiki repeated.

"She's serious about becoming a strong shinobi, you know? In her head she thinks it'll probably take a few years before she unlocks her 'kekkei genkai' which will make her strong. If she knew she really didn't have any…then she'll do _anything_ to become strong." Hayate quietly explained.

"How do you know that?" Ibiki asked.

"Paranoia, I guess." Hayate shrugged.

Shikaku however knew that the Third Hokage's worries were starting to rub off on Hayate too. After all Shiro was ambitious for a three year old, enough to be compared to Orochimaru.

 _(That wasn't true. Hayate knew that unlike Orochimaru, Shiro really did love Konohagakure. He was just too scared of Akane to correct Shiro's bizarre idea that she belonged to the Kaguya clan, not that he would ever admit it out loud.)_

.o0o.o0o.

Shiro panted.

After only five minutes of stretching she decided that maybe being a ninja wasn't for her. But damn it she was stubborn. So what if she didn't get immediate result in her stretching? She was no Rock Lee for crying out loud. And even then Rock Lee had to go through martial arts hell to become a taijutsu master.

 _'Maybe it's 'cause I'm lazy. I mean exercising has never been for me. But it's important in this world, isn't it? Besides being a ninja sounds awesome. Way better than being an average civilian.'_

And the only way for her not to become an average civilian was for her to become a ninja. Or was it?

Shiro hummed, thinking of other possibilities.

It was as she was thinking of these other possibilities that her mother found her laying on the floor.

"Shiro-chan, what are you doing?"

Shiro looked at her mother through half-lidded eyes. "Mama, I figured out what I should do with my life."

"Which is?" Akane gently prompted.

"Become a stripper."

.o0o.o0o.

"Don't go!" Shiro wailed clinging on to Hayate's leg as if her whole life depended on it.

"I won't be gone forever Shiro." Hayate sighed patting the girl's head.

"No, no, no, I don't care. Stay with me!" Shiro continued crying crocodile tears.

"Let go of him already brat." Ibiki ordered.

"NO!"

"Let go of him!" Ibiki snapped at her, his patience wearing thin.

"He's mine! Get your own Hayate!" Shiro glared at Ibiki, her arms tensed around Hayate's leg.

"C'mon Shiro, let go. If you do I'll give you some candy."

Shiro didn't need another prompting, she immediately let go. "Candy!" She demanded holding her hand out to Hayate.

"Nice to know I'm worth as much as a few candy to you." Hayate said in amusement as he grabbed a few candy from his pocket, and deposited them in Shiro's hand.

"Aye~!" Shiro agreed with a grin, "Have a nice trip Hayate, don't die, and ya better become a Chunin."

"Yeah, yeah, roger captain." Hayate patted Shiro's head.

"Can we go now?" Ibiki interrupted.

Shiro glared at him. "I hope _you_ die." She sneered at him.

"Feeling's mutual." Ibiki glared.

"Troublesome." Shikaku sighed.

.o0o.o0o.

. _'You can have your candy, just come back Hayate.'_

"Sasuke-chan, Itachi-kun, this is Shirona, we'll be looking after her in the afternoons for a month starting from now, okay? Make her feel welcomed."

Shiro stared at Itachi and Sasuke who stood in front of her, an uneasy smile on her features. _'Fuck my life.'_

"Yo Sauce-chan, Weasel-chan, just call me Shiro-sama, alright?"

 ** _.o0o.o0o._**

 ** _Chapter End_**

 ** _.o0o.o0o._**

 ** _Author's Note:_** _Well, this chapter has been fun to write. For some reason I really love writing Shiro, her antics are hilarious. Important thing to note is that I changed a bit of the last chapter, but it's mostly the same aside from the calling Mikoto "Mikoto-sama" and her immediately being able to use chakra. Thank you to the reviewers who pointed out those mistakes for me, I appreciate it._

 _Next chapter's obviously going to feature our favorite Uchiha siblings, and of course Shiro's antics. And as you all can see there's more to Hayate simply being Shiro's godfather, bet y'all didn't expect that._

 _A BIG THANKS TO ALL MY READERS AND SUPPORTERS!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _1._** ** _Did you expect Hayate to be reporting about Shiro to the Hokage?_**

 ** _2._** ** _What will Sasuke, Itachi, Mikoto, and Fugaku think of Shiro?_**

"


	6. Uchiha Clan, misunderstood

The Uchiha Clan is one of the four noble clans of Konohagakure, reputed to be the village's strongest because of their Sharingan and natural battle prowess. After helping found Konoha decades ago, the Uchiha grew increasingly isolated from the village's affairs, due to their ancestor's betrayal and the most recent reason being the suspicions cast upon them for the Kyuubi's release three years ago.

Thus despite being a noble clan, they were generally shunned and in return shunned the village.

Shiro liked to just classify the whole problem as a huge miscommunication between them. Honestly, Shiro didn't see why the Uchiha Clan's members couldn't just be sent to the T&I where those Yamanaka folks can do their mind magic and find out if one of them really did free the big orange ball of fluffy. (Which none of them did.) The only reasoning she could come up with was politics.

It made more sense to her. Konohagakure needed a scapegoat to place the blame of the Kyuubi accident, who better than the only ones capable of causing said accident? Then to top it off, a power play. Making the civilian think they have everything under control by getting rid of the Uchiha Clan's influence.

Shiro snorted, earning an odd look from Sasuke.

 _'Konoha's filled with Political Dicks.'_

"She's weird Aniki.." She heard Sasuke whisper to Itachi.

"Don't be rude Otouto." Itachi quietly chided.

"So," Shiro drawled focusing her attention on the two. They were all standing in the backyard, the intention being that they started playing together or something. "What are we doing today?" She asked the two with a grin.

"I don't like you." Sasuke bluntly said crossing his arms.

Shiro did a mock hurt face, placing her hand over her heart as if she had been struck for dramatic effect. "Ouch, I though we were friends Sauce-chan!"

"No, we're not! And my name's _Sasuke_." Sasuke glared.

Shiro found the expression more cute than intimidating. "What about you Weasel-chan?"

"Aniki's name is Itachi. And he isn't your friend either." Sasuke huffed at her, inching closer to Itachi protectively.

"What are you talking about Sauce-chan?" Shiro feigned a confused look. "Weasel-chan and I are best friends!"

Sasuke looked unconvinced as he looked at his brother. "Tell her she's not your friend. She's crazy."

"Go ahead, tell Sauce-chan that we're best friends Weasel-chan." Shiro urged.

"Forever." Itachi added earning surprised looks from both Shiro and Sasuke, the former catching the way his lips curled up in faint amusement.

Shiro decided that she liked Itachi.

 _('Damn, now I kinda wanna help him out...how?)_

* * *

(O~O)

* * *

"Your parents lets you play with knives?" Shiro asked in surprise as Sasuke walked out to the backyard with a box filled with kunai. Itachi wasn't present due to him having to meet up with his team.

Sasuke sent her a funny look. "I'm not playing, I'm _training_." He corrected her haughtily. "And they're called kunai, idiot."

Shiro sent him a funny look in return. Sure, she did stretches and futilely try to access her chakra from time to time, but she never tried throwing kunai or anything like that yet. She's only physically three after all. Wasn't it like not good for the body to start training from a young age? Then again she isn't a medical expert and there were a lot of young karate champions or professional baby ballerinas in her old world, so yeah.

Maybe she tried to justified neglecting training by blaming that instead of her laziness.

"Don't you train?" Sasuke asked curiously.

Shiro didn't even blink at the civil way Sasuke spoke to her today, the kid was probably bipolar or something after all.

"My mom would throw a fit." Shiro mumbled thoughtfully, knowing it was true. Akane was a semi-sane adult after all, which qualified as a fully sane adult in a world wherein adults found it the norm to allow kids to play with knives.

Not for the first time since her arrival in the Naruverse, Shiro concluded that the place was insane.

"Mind teaching me?" She eagerly asked Sasuke.

What can she say? She was a little insane herself.

"Why?"

Shiro paused. What could she say to make Sasuke help her? The answer came to her after a second or two.

"Because you're better than me."

The answer: Feed his Uchiha ego.

Judging by how he perked up, she succeeded.

"Here." Sasuke handed her a kunai. She eagerly took it, knowing that Akane would have a fit if she saw Sasuke handing her a knife as if it was normal. "Stand like this."

Shiro nodded determinedly copying Sasuke's stance.

He promptly corrected her stance.

What? Not everyone could be perfect at copying others. *cough*Kakashi*cough*Uchiha*cough*

That didn't stop Shiro from flushing in embarrassment, her own ego taking a blow. But she gritted her teeth and endured it knowing that the Uchiha Clan was exceptional at shurikenjutsu, as shown by Itachi and Sasuke. Heck, she vaguely remembered it being mentioned that Mikoto was good at it too. Or maybe it was in a fanfiction or something.

 _'I better become competent at this when I'm a ninja.'_

* * *

(O-O)

* * *

Sasuke was back to being a meanie again. Not that Shiro cared or anything. She definitely wasn't sulking as he fawned over Itachi like those fangirls he would come to hate one day while ignoring her existence.

Mikoto, who had been standing behind the oblivious white haired girl, chuckled.

Shiro started and turned around to face the woman. "Mikoto-san? Is something wrong?"

"I should be asking you that. Why are you sitting on the porch all alone?"

Shiro gave a shrug. "Sauce-chan's ignoring me. He's bipolar."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, one minute he's nice then he's so cold to me." Shiro pouted.

"You are quite obtuse, Shiro-chan."

Shiro's eye twitched, she didn't know whether to be impressed that the woman had basically called her a moron and still sounded classy and eloquent way or offended that the woman found her silly.

"How so?"

"There's a factor behind Sasuke's behavior. Think back, what's the difference between today and yesterday?"

Shiro frowned and turned to look at the scene of Itachi and Sasuke going through some shurikenjutsu training.

She looked at the kunai, they were the same. The sky was as clear as yesterday. The targets were too. What was the difference? Her red eyes then fell on the obvious reason. Itachi Uchiha.

"Brother complex?"

"I wouldn't put it so bluntly, but Sasuke is very fond of Itachi. Don't take it personally." Mikoto said with an apologetic smile.

"It's actually admirable, the way Sauce-chan values his family." Shiro quietly commented. "And it's obvious Weasel-chan does too, otherwise he'd be resting instead of spending time with Sauce-chan."

"Perhaps you may just be more astute than I had thought."

"Mikoto-san!" Shiro whined at the woman who called her dumb one second and was now calling her smart. "You're so mean!"

"Come along now, today you're mine." Mikoto pleasantly smiled. "It's always nice to have a helping hand with the chores."

Shiro groaned but followed obediently.

* * *

(O-O)

* * *

 _'Mikoto-san, save me...'_

Alas, the woman in question couldn't. So Shiro had to face the hardest challenge she has faced since her arrival in the Naruverse: Gaining Fugaku Uchiha's blessings for her semi-friendship with his sons. (Semi because she thinks of them as friends, but she wasn't sure if it was one-sided on her part or not.)

"Sauce-chan and Weasel-chan's dad, is there something wrong?" Yep, Shiro was definitely milking 'child ignorance' for all it's worth.

"Sit. I would like to ask some questions." The man didn't give anything away, his face stern.

Shiro gulped and did as told.

"What are your intentions by befriending my sons?"

 _'Right off the bat...'_

"They're cool. So, why not be their friend?" Just because she was addressing him correctly didn't mean Shiro was going to change her manner of speech. Besides, she can get away with it considering she's a child.

"What do you think of the Uchiha clan?"

Shiro blinked in surprise, not having expected that question. "I think...the clan is misunderstood," Shiro began not noticing how Fugaku's face softened, "Which is kinda their own fault considering they need therapy for their fatal disability. Social awkwardness is a serious problem after all, which the Hyuga clan also possess." the features of Fugaku were no longer softened, and instead he looked disdained.

"I see, you are dismissed."

Shiro was going to make a smart comment, but then decided against it. Fugaku's face said it all, he disapproved of her greatly. Shiro huffed as she stood up, so what if Fugaku didn't like her? Mikoto liked her well enough. So ha! She could still be friends with Sasuke and Itachi. It's not like Fugaku was going to kick her out or anything.

Though she couldn't help but wonder what made Fugaku so annoyed at her the next few days.

* * *

(O-O)

* * *

Shiro loved Konoha, she really did, despite most of the villagers being prone to judge or shun others, it had beauty to it. Especially the parks, training grounds and forests littered with massive trees and nature. To Shiro, it was _amazing_ , in her old life she had been a city girl after all. Not used to this much nature surrounding her.

Not only that, but the culture was amazing too. Contrary to the popular belief, the Naruverse wasn't solely based on Japanese culture, it had some Western culture to it too from what Shiro's seen so far. Caramel apple was founded in the US after all, yet there was a vendor selling them.

"Shiro-san?"

Blinking, the white haired girl turned around to see Itachi Uchiha along with what appeared to be his team. A girl who would soon retire, a boy who would die in order for Itachi to unlock his Sharingan and their Sensei who was going to lose his students.

The Hokage and the Political Dicks may have seen a powerful team in the making, but Shiro only saw a tragedy waiting to happen.

"Weasel-chan, what's up?" She casually greeted, keeping the negativity in her head.

Before Itachi could answer, his masculine teammate snorted. "Weasel-chan?" He mocked in a high pitched tone.

Shiro frowned at the boy. "Oh, you have a clown on your team!" She excitedly grinned.

Everyone, excluding the boy, looked amused at her statement. "Oi, what did you call me?" The boy asked.

Shiro tilted her head, seeing a challenging look in the boy's eyes. Challenge accepted, she decided. "A clown."

"YOU-"

"Tenma." Their sensei cut him off before he could launch himself at Shiro. "Don't let this civilian rile you up."

"I'm Shinko Inari~!" The girl introduced herself crouching down to Shiro's height. "And you are so cute!" She pinched Shiro's cheeks making the girl giggle despite the pain.

"Thanks! You're pretty too!" She returned the compliment making the girl coo.

"And I'm Tenma Izumo, or Speedy Tenma as everyone else call me." The boy introduced himself. "I'll let you call me Tenma-sama."

"No one calls him that." Shinko happily informed.

"OI!"

However Shiro looked at the boy in awe. "You're a unicorn!"

She earned a flat look from everyone on Itachi's team.

"How do you figure?" the Sensei asked.

Shiro crouched down and used her finger to trace '天馬' on the dirt. "It's Unicorn's name, see? And unicorns are flying horses!"

"Did she just call me a horse?"

Itachi's lips curled up into a small smile, filled with amusement.

"Awww, she's so precious!"

* * *

(O-O)

* * *

"Why are you sitting in Mikoto-san's punishment corner?"

"Because I'm being punished."

"Why?"

"I may or may not have implied that Sauce-chan and Weasel-chan's dad is a neglecting father and child abuser." The perfectly innocent expression on the girl's face was enough to make him lose his self composure.

Shisui Uchiha laughed, the sound surprising Shiro.

"Man, Itachi was right, you're odd."

"Itachi speaks about me?" Shiro curiously asked.

"Only good things, I assure you."

"Such as?"

"How you single handedly made Fugaku-sama annoyed in under five minutes, how you taught Sasuke how to swim in the koi pond, and about that time when you told random strangers that the Uchiha Clan is filled with 'misunderstood socially awkward people who have a tendency towards arson and needs therapy,' among other things." Shisui listed off in amusement.

Shiro liked Shisui. He seemed like he knew how to have fun and recognized her skills. That day they bonded over tormenting Sasuke, it was the start of a beautiful friendship.

* * *

(O-O)


	7. Things get a bit boring

"Do you idolize Weasel-chan?"

"Of course!"

"Do you think Weasel-chan's the best?"

"I _know_ for a fact that Aniki's the best."

"Are you constantly trying to gather his attention?"

"..lately, but that's because he's gotten busy."

"Do you sometimes keep his stuff, like maybe his boxers or something, as a memento?"

"...I do have a box filled with Aniki's used shuriken."

Shiro gave the worried Sasuke a solemn look. "I'm afraid that you're a _fanboy_ Sause-chan, I'm sorry."

Sasuke's face paled, his mouth dropping open in shock. "No, it can't be. I'm not like Aniki's admirers." He started repeating to himself in a broken mantra, unable to accept the fact that he was in fact a fanboy.

Shiro did what any self-proclaimed friend would do, she gave Sasuke a comforting hug. "They're worse than you." She tried to sooth him as she carefully lifted her hand up, her heart beating faster in anticipation, and brushed Sasuke's hair. She relaxed in pure bliss. _'So soft...'_ She sighed completely forgetting about Sasuke's current dilemma.

"What should I do?" Sasuke asked in despair, gaining Shiro's attention.

Shiro gave him the most serious look he's ever seen her give, then again she's never serious, but _still_. "You stop being his fanboy."

* * *

Mikoto Uchiha was usually a very patient woman with a penchant for bringing out manners in the most ill-mannered individuals, and had always managed to get people's respect, enough to make sure they went out of their way not to piss her off. An angry Mikoto was one even the Hokage wouldn't want to face, especially not the sickenly sweet smile Mikoto would give as she released her killer intent. The only one who had ever been immune to this was Kushina Uzumaki.

The redhead would sometime provoke Mikoto to unleash a wave of killer intent. Ever since Kushina's death, there had been no one willing to even say _no_ to Mikoto's requests or purposely provoke the woman.

Yet, Mikoto couldn't help but wonder if Akane's daughter wasn't really Kushina's. If it wasn't for Shiro's files from the orphanage being lost during the Kyuubi attack with countless other orphans', Mikoto would have taken a peek, just to make sure Shiro really was Akane's. It was just hard to imagine the reserved woman having such an... _energetic_ child. Scratch that, Shiro was a troublemaker.

"Mikoto-san, I'm done."

Mikoto's attention went to Shiro as Shiro offered her a stack of paper, all filled in with Shiro's messy handwriting. "Alright, I hope you've learned your lesson."

"I will never slip my pee into the tea ever again." Shiro dutifully recited the phrase she had written over and over, not seeming the least bit ashamed of her actions.

Mikoto nodded before sending Shiro out to go play with Sasuke. She couldn't wait until the month was done. One thing was for sure, she wouldn't be offering Akane to babysit anytime soon.

"SAUCE-CHAN, LET'S GO TO THE PARK!" Mikoto heard Shiro yell as the young girl dragged Sasuke away towards a grinning Shisui.

The older woman's lips curved up into a slight smile. Despite Shiro being a handful, Mikoto was thankful that Shiro was bringing Sasuke out of his shell. Turning around, she headed towards the kitchen, intent on baking Shiro's favorite cookies.

* * *

Shiro had a borderline smug smile as kids surrounded her. The kids were all her age, or a few years older give or take. If she squinted her eyes, she could even recognize a flash of pink hair and even the sound of chips being eaten reached her ears. Even though she couldn't see them, or was even in the position to befriend them, she knew that there was at least a handful of her future allies gathered around her.

"Any requests today?" She asked ignoring the confused look Sasuke, who has never been to one of her shows before, an easy going smile on her features.

"I wanna hear the one about the thief and the princess again!"

"No! Tell us the one about the frog!"

"I wanna hear about the one with the mouse!"

Shiro clapped her hands, ignoring how Shisui curiously eyed the whole scene. "How about a new story? One filled with ogres, dragons, and of course, a princess?"

The kids cheered before settling down.

When they all quietened down, Shiro began with the story. The kids and adults all thought she had a very creative imagination, but in truth Shiro would shamelessly admit to just re-telling the stories from her old world. Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Tangled, etc. The kids adored her stories and she felt good when she saw their smiles.

Soon enough even Sasuke and Shisui sat down to enjoy the story.

"Get off my swamp, the ogre roared in anger, silencing the mystical creatures..."

* * *

As Shiro was telling the story to the children gathered around her, Team Shikaku walked on the streets of Sunagakure.

"Now that you've both made it pass the first two parts of the exam, there's only the battle portion left." Shikaku started casually."It doesn't matter if you defeat your opponent or not, what matters is how you advertise yourself. Showing everyone that you qualify to be promoted to the next rank is the goal of these exams."

Ibiki nodded his acknowledgement to Shikaku's words.

"That being said, I'm proud that you two made it this far without the advantage of a third team member." Shikaku allowed a small, proud smile on his features. He absently noted how neither Ibiki nor Hayate flinched at the mention of a third team member. Despite the case not being as severe as Kakashi Hatake's, both boys did lose their teammate during the war as well.

Record says that she was blown up by their enemies, the truth was more brutal.

Hayate stopped walking and stood in front of a stand that was selling necklaces, causing the rest of his team to stop as well.

"What?" Ibiki grunted.

"It's almost Shiro's birthday." Hayate absently explained himself as he picked up a necklace. It wasn't anything fancy, merely a simple silver necklace with a pendant of a green dragon. "She's fascinated by dragons."

Ibiki merely shook his head at Hayate. "She's just a mission." He stated in a matter of fact tone, having been informed of Hayate's mission a few days prior. "Once the mission is over, so is your time with the brat and her mother."

His brutal honesty caused Hayate to frown. It was plainly obvious to everyone, including Hayate himself, that Shiro wasn't just a mission to Hayate anymore. No one could really understand why though, not even Hayate himself. He didn't even know when he began seeing Shiro as something more than a mission.

"I suggest you work on getting rid of that attachment."

"Yeah." Hayate nodded in acknowledgement to Ibiki's words.

He ended up buying the necklace anyways.

* * *

Despite his disdain towards Jiraiya's child, Fugaku was the first to notice when Shirona was pretending to be happy. It wasn't that Shiro faked her happiness or anything. Usually at least. But Fugaku had an eye for detail. And Shiro's usual grin was too wide, too forced and too cheerful.

Even so, once his wife closed the door, leaving him in his office alone with Shiro, who was being punished for somehow replacing Sasuke's clothes with pink frilly dresses, he didn't say anything. He had some paperwork to get done with.

It was Shiro who ended up being the first to say something.

"Frowny-jii-san?"

Fugaku grunted, practically over the annoying nickname he had been assigned.

"Why does Mikoto-san always look sad around me? Even when I help her with her chores or offer to run some errands for her..."

The question was enough to make Fugaku pause, surprised. To put it bluntly Fugaku thought that Shiro was an idiot with a penchant for causing mischief and sprouting stories. He hadn't expect the girl to notice how Mikoto's smile would momentarily falter in her presence or how Mikoto would sometimes look so distant. Shiro simply brought up memories. And despite Shiro generally acting a bit like Kushina, it wasn't memories of the Uzumaki.

"You remind her of her cousin, Obito Uchiha."

"Eh?!" Shiro squeaked in surprise, her eyes as wide as saucers.

"He died a few years back and was supposed to be Sasuke's godfather."

He allowed Shiro to process the information.

When Shiro opened her mouth, he expected various questions regarding the matter. "What are you getting me for my birthday?" Yet, it seemed as if the girl made it her life mission to contradict Fugaku's expectations.

With a sigh Fugaku stood up. "I have to go check up on my officers." Seeing Shiro deflate slightly, he realized that perhaps the matter of Obito might have really affected the girl. "Care to join me?" He asked causing Shiro to perk up.

For once the girl didn't contradict his expectations.

"Y'know, I've been itching to get my hands on that fancy fire jutsu your clan uses..."

Fugaku merely ignored Shiro.

No one mentioned anything when Shiro suddenly started visiting the Clan Head despite being surprised that Fugaku didn't kick the girl out.

* * *

 _"Take me to the Memorial Stone!"_

Aside from sharing a glance, Itachi and Sasuke had brought the self-proclaimed Kayuga to the Memorial Stone before heading off to go train and spend some family time together.

So there Shiro stood, a scowl on her face. Something which would shock anyone who knew her.

"I'm not like you."

She waited five minutes.

"Nothing like you."

Then another five minutes.

"I refuse to be like you."

Her fists clenched. Mikoto had compared her to Obito. Shiro knew that Mikoto meant the younger version of said boy, but even so Shiro felt as if she was being compared to the older Obito. And she hated it.

She was disgusted.

Enraged.

Resigned.

She was as selfish as the older Obito. After all, she didn't even blink once the news of the Hyuga Incident reached her ears. She didn't have any noble reasons for not stopping it. She didn't care about not messing up the story. She just didn't care about it.

Then she grinned.

"Are you here to visit someone too?" She asked the solemn Anbu who took a stand next to her.

Silence was the reply she got.

In return she started humming a cheerful tune. She cracked a smile, knowing that she was being annoying.

* * *

 _ **Chapter End**_

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:** It's been a long time since I updated, but I finally got my inspiration back. Next chapter will be coming soon, and hopefully the twist I have planned will surprise you._

 **Questions:**

 ** _1\. Will Ibiki ever see Shiro as more than a brat?_**

 _ **2\. Will Shiro ever stop annoying people? And who should her next victim be?**_


	8. When Shiro gets OOC

Shiro went on her knees in front of Fugaku. "Please!" She begged, not caring about her pride.

Fugaku sighed. "It's against clan policy for me to take an orphan in as my apprentice." He said, not letting any emotion show. "Have you tried asking Hayate?" He did admire her determination to become a ninja after all.

"He said no." Shiro pouted.

"That is surprising."

"Right?" Shiro nodded in agreement. "Something stupid about how I should wait for the academy. When I told him that clan kids are training already, he said it's because they have talent and I don't. We got into an argument. I totally hate him for being a jerk."

"Sounds to me like he's just being a meddling older brother." Mikoto intervened. "I was also cautious when Sasuke started his training, but I warmed up to the idea eventually."

"He's been saying no for almost a year now. I'm almost five! FIVE!" Shiro held out her hand for emphasis. "And I still don't even know how to throw a punch!"

Fugaku and Mikoto shared a look.

"We'll ask Shisui to help you out when he can, but we can't promise an apprenticeship." Fugaku sighed.

"No thanks." Shiro casually rejected their offer, not even noticing how their lips twitched in annoyance. "Shisui's my rival, so I can't let him help me." She explained with a sheepish smile before offering them a bow. "Thank you for trying to help me though."

"You've matured a bit." Mikoto proudly smiled.

Fugaku however didn't even share that hope. He knew Shiro hasn't matured.

"Oh, and sorry for disturbing your, eh, _private S &M _time."

"That girl!" Mikoto grumbled as Shiro ran away.

Fugaku quietly huffed. "She's just like her father."

Mikoto crossed her arms. "Honestly, when is Akane-chan planning to tell Shiro who her father is? It's dangerous to let her continue to believe that she's a Kaguya, someday someone dangerous may actually believe her."

* * *

"Please!" Shiro once again went on her knees.

The man sitting across from her sighed. "Troublesome."

"Is that a yes?" Shiro hopefully asked.

"No."

"Why not?" Shiro whined. "Clan polify?" She tried guessing.

"Policy." Shikaku absently corrected her. "And no, it's simply because you're not qualified to be _my_ student. You're too loud, reckless, and dense. If you were to be my student, I'd mold you into a strategist, which you aren't. You're more geared towards being a powerhouse. So I wouldn't be able to teach you anything even if I did try."

Shiro hung her head dejectedly. "Thanks anyways." She mumbled.

"Hayate will come around eventually. He's just...overprotective of you. Thinks he has to protect your 'innocence' and it gets in the way of his desire to teach you how to become a killer."

"Shinobi." Shiro corrected.

"Same thing."

"Not really." Shiro mumbled as she left.

Shikaku shook his head at the girl, a small smile on his features. "You're right." He quietly admitted, not wanting to give the girl the satisfaction of knowing she wasn't completely a failure when it came to the mental department.

Honestly, he'll have to talk to Hayate about rejecting the girl's wish.

One way or another, Shiro will find someone to train her after all. She's too hard headed to give up.

* * *

"Please!"

"No."

"Please!"

"Who are you anyway?"

"Please?"

"Kid, go home."

"Please..."

"Wait until you enter the academy."

"Please, I want to become a shinobi."

"Just go home to your mommy."

* * *

Shiro wiped away her frustrated tears and sniffed. So far she's asked a total amount of fifteen shinobi to train her, two of which she personally knew, and got rejected by ever single one of them.

 _'What do I have to lose by asking?'_ Shiro shrugged as she walked over to Kakashi.

"Ne, ne, Inu-san?" She asked peering up at him.

She wouldn't say she had managed to become best buddies with him over the last year, but she did manage to at least become his acquaintance.

"What?" He blankly asked her.

"Um, will you become my sensei?"

"...no. Sorry."

"Ah, that's okay." She said turning to look at the memorial stone.

He left ten minutes later, probably feeling awkward after rejecting her request.

Shiro weakly smiled. She really did have nothing to lose. There was just a pang each time someone rejected her and it _hurt_.

 _"A brat can't become a ninja."_ Ibiki's words played in her head for a moment.

"Just one more try..."

 _'This time with feelings.'_

* * *

"Hayate Gekko."

Hayate blinked. He's never seen Shiro look so serious before.

"What?" He was barely able to ask.

"I'm an emotional person. I can't control my emotions like Shikaku-san, Fugaku-san, Itachi-san or any other strong shinobi. It's because I'm an emotional person that my dream is to save a lot of lives and that's why I can't wait. One day, I hope to surpass Tsunade-sama herself. But if throwing away my emotions mean you'll teach me, I'll do it. _I'll throw away my emotions_ , just _please_ , train me."

Hayate was speechless as Shiro went on her knees in a perfect bow. "Please." She softly said.

How was he supposed to say no?

Hayate paused, trying to come up with a speech about how Shiro shouldn't feel pressured to become strong and how they weren't living in war or anything. That she should enjoy her childhood.

"Don't!"

Hayate blinked as Shiro raised her voice. The glare she sent him made him wince.

"Don't come up with a flowery speech. Just say it." She said looking away.

"...I'm sorry. I don't want to become your sensei."

(That was a lie. He already asked the Hokage to become her sensei once she becomes a gennin.)

Shiro exhaled. "Yeah, that's cool." She mumbled as she walked away.

"Where are you going?"

She spared him a glance. "You're just a stranger living in my house. I'm not obligated to answer."

(It was a lie. He was like a brother to her. But somehow, when Hayate said he didn't want to become her sensei, it hurt worse than the sixteen rejections she's gotten that day.)

He winced. "Shiro, wai-"

 _Slam!_

Hayate stared at the closed door with guilty eyes.

* * *

Shiro hummed a cheery tune to herself as she sat on the park bench, sure she feels like she just got rejected by the most popular guy in school, but she wasn't going to give up. She was bound to find someone who would take her in as a student. Heck, at this point she'd even take Gai's ultimate martial arts training from hell. She'd even get her hair cut the same way as him if he actually says yes.

But for now, the next person on her list to ask was Ibiki.

She shuddered.

It would definitely hurt her pride to ask _him_ for help, but she really was that desperate to achieve her dream.

"Shirona."

Shiro squealed in surprise before turning to look at an old man.

An old man named Danzo.

Her eyes widened. _'No, no, no. Go away, shooo, go away!'_ As tough as Shiro acted, she knew she wasn't tough enough to act witty and sarcastic to Danzo. Unlike with Fukagu or Shikaku, she knew this man would actually hurt her if she offends him.

"H-hello?" She greeted.

"Are you scared?" He asked.

"Yes." Shiro didn't even hesitate or contemplated lying.

Danzo smiled, almost amused. "You must be wondering what I want."

Shiro cautiously nodded and he handed her a file. "What's this?"

"That, _Shiro_ , says that I'm your legal guardian."

"Eh?!" Shiro couldn't help but yell in surprise. "But Akane, my mom, is my guardian!" She protested, not liking the implication of _Danzo_ ever becoming her guardian.

"Oh? You didn't know? When you were born, that woman put you up for adoption."

"...my mom would never-"

"She didn't want you. You were an accident."

That shut Shiro up. Of course a part of her always knew that, but damn, did Danzo have to be so savage about it? "So? Late night mistake or not, she's still my mother."

"Biologically speaking, yes. If you behave, I'll allow the occasional visits."

Shiro tensed. "Hayate...he won't let you take me away."

Danzo chuckled.

The sound made Shiro's eyes widen.

She flinched as Danzo reached out towards her neck, half-expecting the man to choke her. Instead, he ripped the necklace Hayate had gotten her from her neck.

"Considering he has a seal placed on this, of course he will try to get in the way." Danzo mused.

"Seal?" Shiro repeated. "What seal?"

Danzo motioned towards a small, almost unnoticeable kanji on the dragon's left wing.

"Why...why did he put a seal on it?" Shiro felt a sense of dread washing over her as she took the necklace from him.

"He had to have a method of keeping track of his mission. Ultimately, his only purpose was to spy and report back to the Hokage."

"No..."

Danzo started walking away.

"W-where are you going?" Shiro asked, despite still processing everything Danzo has told her.

"You wanted a sensei, right? Unlike the other fools, I see potential. I can make you stronger than Tsunade. The choice is yours. Stay with those who have lied to you or become my student." And he continued walking.

Shiro stared at his back.

Akane didn't want her.

Hayate's been lying to her this whole time.

Fugaku and Mikoto probably knew. Maybe even Itachi and Shisui.

Her precious people have been lying to her the entire time. But it wasn't like she had any room to point fingers. She's been lying to them the whole time too. She wasn't _their_ Shiro.

Despite the emotional pain she was feeling, Shiro knew her dream was still the same. She still wanted to save people. She still wanted to become stronger than Tsunade. And the only one willing and capable of helping her was the devil himself, Danzo.

But, if it meant being able to achieve her dream? She'd follow Danzo straight into hell. Whatever it takes to achieve her dream.

A grin forced its way onto her face as she released the necklace.

 _Clang!_

"Danzo-sensei, wait~!" She cheerfully exclaimed running towards the old man.

"So you've made your choice." Danzo noted as she fell into step with him.

"Yeah, Ibiki-baka would have probably reject me too."

The sad part was, she was wrong. Ibiki would have taken her in had she told him the same things she told Hayate. But, Shiro would never know that. Danzo's a master at manipulation after all.

(Hit them when they're weak and they'll fall to their knees for you. That was one of Danzo's strategies.)

* * *

 _ **Chapter End.**_

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:** Plot twists~ Oh what a wonderful word._

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _1\. What are Danzo's motives?_**

 ** _2\. Will Shiro become like Sai and the other Root members?_**


	9. Light at the end of the Tunnel

Shiro watched her reflection in the mirror, noting how anti-climatic her joining Danzo had been. He had simply escorted her to Root's underground facility and enlisted her as a new member before leaving to go take care of some business.

The red eyed self-proclaimed Kaguya didn't feel any different. Well, at least aside from the sting from what Danzo had revealed to her.

Because seriously?

Akane didn't want her.

Hayate's been lying to her this whole time.

Fugaku and Mikoto probably knew. Maybe even Itachi and Shisui.

Yet, aside from the emotional sting she felt, she still felt the same about them. Akane was still her mother. Fugaku was still the authority figure she secretly looked up to. Mikoto was still her favorite babysitter. Itachi was still the boy who went along with her antics. Shisui was still an indulgent older brother figure. Sasuke, who was probably the only one oblivious about everything, was still her friend.

Her hand unconsciously went to her bare neck, the absence of her necklace making her heart give a pained pang.

The only one who she wasn't sure about was Hayate. But considering she was _just_ a mission to him had been made clear, hadn't it? He clearly showed her where she stood with him.

Shiro's eyes watered.

Yeah, she _knew_ where she stood with him.

It probably didn't matter to him if she never shows up again. She didn't matter to him after all. His life would move on and so would everyone else's lives, whether she was there or not. In fact they would probably be better off _without_ her.

Akane wouldn't have to struggle to pay rent.

Hayate could take on more interesting missions.

Fugaku wouldn't have to worry about her pranks anymore.

Mikoto wouldn't have to worry about her influencing Sasuke anymore.

Itachi didn't have a pest that would stalk him with his little brother anymore.

Shisui wouldn't have to handle a kid constantly badgering after him demanding to learn something.

Sasuke wouldn't have an annoying pest keeping him away from training.

They would all be _better_ without her.

Danzo on the other hand?

He had seen _something_ in her. What he saw, she wasn't sure about. Nor did she really care. She just felt _good_ about being needed by someone, even if it was probably for Danzo's selfish gains. Ironically, out of all the adult figures in her life Danzo has yet to utter any lies to her.

Danzo wanted to make her stronger than Tsunade.

With his help, she could achieve her goal.

Wiping away her tears, Shiro gave her reflection a genuine smile. "They'll be okay without you." She assured herself. "They'll be better than okay without you." She repeated one last time.

 _'So focus on yourself right now and make sure you don't lose your emotions. Emotions are the reason why your goal is to help, right?'_ A voice inside her head encouraged.

"No way am I going to change!" Shiro grinned before childishly sticking out her tongue while pulling her left lower eyelid down.

The mirror reflected her childish pose, along with a cursed seal on her tongue.

* * *

o0o.o0o.

* * *

Akane paced around her crappy apartment, her usually neat hair sticking up and her eyes worn with tired bags. Her face was curled into a desperate type of worry.

Her daughter had been missing for _two_ days, without any sign.

At first, Hayate had suggested that maybe Shiro had gone to stay with the Uchiha before explaining the falling out he and Shiro had over Shiro's latest quest to find a teacher. That had earned Hayate an annoyed scowl from the overprotective mother who swore to punish him for making Shiro sad.

Hayate had never been more unnerved by the woman.

However, when Akane had gone to pick up Shiro the next day with plans to go have a mother-daughter bonding time to cheer Shiro up, Mikoto had been confused. The Uchiha had explained that Shiro had never showed up.

 _"Hey Mikoto-san, I came to pick up Shiro."_

 _"Akane-san? What are you talking about? Shiro isn't here."_

 _"...oh."_

 _"Akane-san, you're pale. Is everything okay?"_

 _"No, not really. I have to go. Bye."_

In a desperate attempt, Akane had ran off to the Nara compound, thinking that maybe Shiro had went there instead considering her daughter thought of the clan head as a 'cool dude' and had _hoped_ that Shiro was there.

She had needed Shiro to be there.

Shiro wasn't there.

 _"I haven't seen the kid since I rejected her request."_

 _"Thank you Shikaku-san."_

Akane had searched _everywhere_ she could think of, going as far as to force Team Shikaku to help her. Even the normally aloof Ibiki had been concerned, considering he was the one who took care of his little brother and imagined himself in Akane's place.

In the end they couldn't find the girl.

Not even with the seal Hayate had engraved on her necklace.

The sound of the door opening shook Akane out of her trip down memory lane and caused her to quickly turn around. "Any news?" Her voice sounded pathetic even to her.

But this was her daughter.

She didn't care if she seemed pathetic.

Shiro was _her light_.

Hayate was obviously tense. "Danzo Shimura has her."

"The councilman..?"

"Yes."

Akane's face curled into an enraged expression as she stormed away.

Hayate was hot on her trails. "Where are you going?"

"Where else? To the fucking Hokage!" Akane snapped picking up her pace.

* * *

o0o.o0o.

* * *

Shiro was childishly singing out loud as she walked around Danzo's office, unknowingly confusing a few passing Root members who didn't know what do to.

 _"Say goodbye to the pain of the past!"_

The self-proclaimed Kaguya twirled around to the center of the room, not pausing in her singing.

 _"Love is an open door!"_

Just as sung that, the door went open.

Without thinking about it, Shiro turned to face whoever had entered.

 _"Love is an open door!"_

She opened her eyes to see two calm and neutral expressions. She gave them a big grin. "Why hello there." Yet, despite her friendly attitude she took the chance to observe them.

One had fair-skin and short spike dull black the exception of a small area around his nose and mouth, his features were covered by a mask. He wore a black long-sleeved and zipped jacket with a red sash around his waist and light grey knee-length pants with black shinobi sandals. He also wore a pair of black gloves and glasses, built into the mask.

 _'Aburame.'_ Shiro immediately concluded, vaguely recognizing the boy from the series. As far as she recalled, he was friends with Shino. Though she didn't know for sure, considering he wasn't even a supporting character.

Her gaze then went to the other boy, having a vague idea as to who he would be.

As she had expected, she was met with a shock of auburn hair and amber eyes. Just like in the series, he wore a light brown short kimono with a black sash, grey pants and shinobi sandals.

 _'Yamanaka.'_ Shiro wasn't sure if the boy was related to Ino or not, considering it wasn't mentioned in the series. She had less information on the auburn haired boy than she did on the masked one.

"Danzo-sensei is away." Shiro found herself informing them without thinking, her grin eased into an easy-going smile.

"We're here for you." The Aburame calmly intoned.

"Eh?"

"Danzo-sama has assigned us to you."

"What does that mean?" Shiro asked in confusion.

"It means we're in charge of your training." The Yamanaka explained.

"Eh?! I thought Danzo-sensei was going to be my sensei!" Shiro exclaimed.

"Danzo-sama doesn't have time to focus on one sole person, he has far more important duties to attend to. As such, he entrusted us with your training. Be grateful." The Yamanaka said in an almost chiding tone.

Shiro pouted.

He was right.

Danzo was the leader of Root _and_ a member of the council, of course he wouldn't really have time for her.

She heard the Aburame say something she couldn't quite catch.

"I'm Fu and this is my partner Torune." The Yamanaka, Fu, calmly introduced himself.

Shiro perked up. She _loved_ introducing herself.

"My name's Shiro! I'm from the Kaguya clan!" Shiro started giving them a thumbs up that would make Might Guy himself proud. "I like sweets, telling stories and pranks. I _hate_ liars. One day, I'm going to surpass Tsunade!" She finished off with a bright smile.

"We'll have to fix that." She heard Fu mutter.

"It is nice to meet you, I suppose." Torune nodded at her.

She grinned at the Aburame, deciding he was her favorite considering he acknowledged her introduction. "Please take care of me Torune-sempai, Fu-sempai."

* * *

.o0o.o0o.

* * *

A blonde blue eyed boy arrived at an empty park, looking around in confusion.

 _'Where is she?'_ He wondered, feeling disappointed.

He had been expecting to see her, the pretty white haired girl with red eyes that would tell stories to everyone, even to him. In fact, when she told her awesome stories, she would even smile at him earnestly.

Whenever she would do that, he would return her smile.

He started off with shy smiles, until suddenly one day he started grinning widely at her when she noticed him standing with the crowd of kids, and sometimes adults, and in return she would send him a smile of her own.

He was a fan of hers.

Even though he didn't really know her name.

(He secretly called her Tenshi-chan, because she kinda looked like an angel to him.)

"Huh?" The boy mumbled seeing something shine a few steps away from him.

He curiously approached the shining object and saw a familiar necklace with a dragon pendant. His eyes widened, recognizing that the necklace belonged to the white-haired red eyed girl. The very necklace she would fondly brush while telling her stories.

He immediately crouched down and picked it up.

* * *

.o0o.o0o.

* * *

Shiro groaned as Fu and Torune once again made another turn in the confusing hallways of Root's underground facility.

"Are we almost there yet?" She asked.

Neither answered her.

"C'mon guys, answer me!" Shiro pleaded.

Again, she didn't receive a reply.

"TORUNE TALK TO ME, TALK TO ME BABY!" She yelled loudly, allowing her voice to echo through the hallways and unknowingly startling a few sleeping members of Root.

"Shiro, please don't do that again." Torune finally said.

"Well, are we almost there yet?" Shiro asked, before pouting when she realized he wasn't going to answer.

Fine, Shiro had more than one strategy after all.

"Fu-sempai, c'mon, don't ignore me."

Fu didn't even twitch.

"Fu-sempaaaaaiiiiii!"

No response.

"Fu-sempai~!" Shiro tried in a cutesy tone.

No reply.

"F-Fu-sempai..." Shiro tried moaning.

He didn't even seem startled.

"NOTICE ME FU-SEMPAI!" Shiro loudly wailed.

Unbeknownst to her, Fu had twitched at that.

* * *

.o0o.o0o.

* * *

Danzo walked through the halls leading to the Hokage's office.

If Danzo were to be completely honest, taking Shiro in was his plan B.

His plan A was for Shiro to be trained by her guardian, Hayate, and becoming Chunin around the age of ten before taking her in to become a member of Root. But the fool Hayate had refused to train her.

So did the other fools, who failed to see the perfectly blank canvas in front of them.

Danzo however would not let his plans for Shiro, which he had been scheming for years, go to waste. He would take matters into his own hands and paint Shiro to the image he wanted.

He wouldn't let anyone get in his way.

Not Akane.

Not Hayate.

Not Hiruzen.

 _No one_ would get in his way.

"I WANT MY FUCKING BABY BACK!" He heard the normally reserved Akane yell as he neared the office.

His lips curled up in a bit of amusement, imagining Hiruzen's face. When he reached the door he knocked out of politeness and schooled his features into a calm and neutral expression.

"Enter." Hiruzen tiredly called out.

Without hesitation Danzo opened the door and stepped in, not even sparing the obviously angered woman and her sidekick Hayate a glance. Instead he looked at Hiruzen who was looking back at him with a tired look.

"You called for me?" Danzo asked, beating around the bush a bit.

"Don't you dare play dumb, you have _my_ child." Akane hissed at him.

"That's what I wanted to talk about." Hiruzen said.

"I see." Danzo muttered loudly enough for everyone to hear. "I think there's been a misunderstanding," he started ignoring everyone's confused expression, "Biologically Shirona is you and Jiraiya's child Miyamoto."

Akane glared at him. "Get to the point."

"But the law says something else." Danzo reached into his robe and pulled out some papers.

Without a word Akane snatched them from him, her face immediately turning pale.

"Do you recognize it?" Danzo found himself taunting the woman a bit. "It's the paper you signed when you gave Shirona to the orphanage six years ago."

"These...I thought they were lost.." Akane quietly said.

"You had them, didn't you?" Hayate asked.

Danzo didn't even bother confirming the obvious. "You see, by all means Shirona was still considered an orphan by law."

"Was?" Hiruzen sharply asked, picking up on how Danzo had worded his sentence.

" _Was_." Danzo repeated pulling out a single paper from his robe. "Now, she's under my care and will one day succeed me as the leader of Root. Legally speaking, she's now _Shiro Shimura_."

* * *

 _ **CHAPTER END!**_

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:** It's been a long time since I updated, huh? Sorry about that. I really have no excuse. Believe it or not, I already have everything planned out for this story, including the plot twists and the ending. I'm just a lazy ass who binge watches other stuff or play videogames instead of actually doing that._

 _Anyway, did you enjoy the chapter? Were you surprised? Remember to favorite, follow and review~! And if you have already, thank you for the support!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _1\. What does Torune and Fu think of Shiro?_**

 ** _2\. What will Akane and the others do now that Shiro is gone?_**


	10. SSS

To draw, trace of define the outer edge or shape of something, that is an outline.

Before creating a piece of art, every artist needed an outline. Whether it be an outline of the background, a person's face, or perhaps even an outline of the small things, such as a falling leaf or the roots of a tree.

Outlines were the foundation to everything. The first step that every artist took in order to create a masterpiece. Danzo-sama didn't fancy himself an artist in the sense of drawing or any other practical art. No, he considered himself a master at what he did, enough for it to be considered as a form of art.

What did he do?

He made _roots_ , members of the division he commanded, who followed his every order in order to support the tree known as Konoha. He shaped the unseen members who support the great tree of Konoha from the depths of the earth.

With every member Danzo-sama recruited, he started with the same outline. The same skill he thought was essential to every ninja's skillset.

 _Taijutsu_.

In Root, the two essential skills every member learned was Taijutsu and Kenjutsu.

Then, only after Danzo-sama was satisfied, would a member move on to develop his or her own mastery over another art under Danzo-sama's hawk-like supervision. Whether the art be Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, poison, medicine and so on.

Aside from Taijutsu and Kenjutsu training, there was another mandatory practice every member had to go through, without exception. The practice of killing one's emotions and thus becoming essentially heartless.

Yet, pray tell Fu, why hadn't Shiro change after almost a year of going through Root's strict regime? They, he and his partner Torune, had tried every possible and Danzo-sama approved method.

From Genjutsu, to isolation, to torture, and even starvation! _Nothing_ worked on the girl. The inability to change Shiro's personality left Fu uneasy. He was sure that trying to change Shiro was counterproductive, because instead of turning the girl emotionless, the self-proclaimed Kaguya had made him _feel_ again. Negative feelings, but still feelings.

The former Yamanaka, because in Root there wasn't such a thing as a last name, couldn't help but narrow his eyes at the source of his... _frustration_. Currently, Shiro was hanging out with two "friends" she had made weeks after joining Root. Sai and Shin. The odd trio were sitting down at a table in the eating lounge, chattering about a book Shiro and Sai were writing and illustrating respectively.

Hobbies, as long as they didn't get in the way, was permitted in Root.

"You're staring."

Fu glanced at his partner, Torune, who was calmly eating some dumplings.

"She's annoying," Fu defended himself.

"Careful, your emotions are showing," Torune jested.

Fu's grip tightened on his fork.

Another reason why Shiro greatly frustrated him? The girl had somehow gotten _Torune_ of all people to start showing more emotions! To joke around. To occasionally smile or even laugh. And she did it without even making an effort.

"She's changing Root."

Fu's attention was now one hundred percent on his partner.

"What?"

"She's changing Root and for some reason, Danzo-sama hasn't done anything about it."

Fu frowned at his partner, "When a root isn't beneficial, it gets cut off so it won't endanger the tree."

"Considering this particular root hasn't been cut off yet, I assume it is useful," Torune's tone held a knowing edge to it, which served to frustrate Fu more.

What was he missing?

"However, our speculation isn't needed."

Indeed.

Fu exhaled a breath. He wasn't sure if it was of relief or frustration or any other emotion he was no longer used to. After all, Shiro had been in Root for almost a year. Her Taijutsu and Kenjutsu only regiment was basically done.

When that one year mark arises? Well, Shiro would be assessed by Danzo-sama himself. She would be assigned a specialization.

"What do you think it's going to be? Kenjutsu and Ninjutsu?" Fu, despite his present annoyance with the girl, couldn't help the curiosity he was feeling.

Shiro was an anomaly. And even when someone didn't like an anomaly, they couldn't help but feel curious about the anomaly.

"Isn't it obvious already?"

"NO! PRINCESS JASMINE IS BROWN, NOT WHITE!" Shiro loudly wailed.

No one seemed perturbed by it. They all merely glanced at the girl before continuing with their own work. Of course, there were a few whose eyes would linger on the scene of the white haired girl lecturing Sai about character appearance.

"Tch, as long as she's finally out of our skin," Fu dismissively said, turning to his now cold dumplings.

* * *

.o0o.o0o.

* * *

 _Dear Shiro,_

 _It's been almost a year since I've last seen you, sweetie. How are you? How is training going? Remember, if you ever want to quit, you're welcomed to. In fact, become a stripper! Yes. You've wanted to become, haven't you? I'll even train you. We could let you take some lessons. Or, if you'd like to be more professional, you could become an escort._

 _Oh, an escort gets paid more. Who knows? Maybe we could both become escorts._

 _Please write back._

 _I'm begging you._

 _Love,_

 _Mom._

Hayate sighed as he folded the letter Akane had written, a small amused smile on his features as he placed it in an envelope. Although it had been almost a year without hearing a word from Shiro, Akane had never stopped writing letters to Shiro.

"Why are you smiling?" Akane asked, staring daggers at him.

"I've never heard of a mother who wants their daughter to become an escort," Hayate answered, "Yet, I'm not at all surprised. I suppose even you have a few screw loose, Akane."

Akane crossed her arms, "Better than my poor Shiro being under _Danzo's_ mercy."

Yeah, Hayate couldn't argue with that.

"Think we should send a cake with the letter?" Hayate changed the topic, "Not home-baked of course, since we don't want Shiro to die of food poisoning," he easily avoided the punch Akane sent his way, "So we can order from the bakery! She likes strawberry shortcake the most, right?"

Akane's eyes softened.

She recalled when Shiro had turned three and she, Hayate and Shiro herself had celebrated with a simple strawberry shortcake. Which Shiro had ended up eating all by herself with a smile on her face.

"Mikoto-san has the cake part covered," Akane quietly said, "I have to get to work."

Hayate watched as the sullen woman left, inwardly giving himself a punch. He should have said yes. Should have told Shiro he'd train her. But, because of his personal feelings, he had allowed Shiro to slip away.

He glanced down at the envelope in his hand, using his free hand to muffle a cough.

As usual, he'd give it to the Hokage before seeing if he'd take a solo-mission or something. As of six months ago, his team had been disbanded. Ibiki was now working at the T&I, quickly making his way up the ranks and Shikaku-sensei was more focused on his family and his position as the Jounin commander.

In all honesty, Hayate had been contemplating joining the ANBU. But his lung issues would get in the way. So, the next best thing would probably be to take on a team or something, right?

But he wouldn't take on anyone if they weren't Shiro.

 _"I'm an emotional person. I can't control my emotions like Shikaku-san, Fugaku-san, Itachi-san or any other strong shinobi. It's because I'm an emotional person that my dream is to save a lot of lives and that's why I can't wait. One day, I hope to surpass Tsunade-sama herself. But if throwing away my emotions mean you'll teach me, I'll do it. I'll throw away my emotions, just please, train me."_

He didn't want any other kid to turn out like Shiro had. He didn't want anyone to do what he did and push a kid towards _Root_. No, he didn't want to fail a kid again. He wanted to...

Redeem himself.

To earn Shiro's forgiveness one day.

Because, she _wasn't_ just a mission to him. She was like the annoying little sister he'd never had. Her cheery attitude, her stubborn attitude, her fearlessness in expressing herself and her dreams. Everything about Shirona Miyamoto had rubbed off on him. Had softened him up the the point where he couldn't even lie that she was just a mission.

A mission which he had probably failed from the start.

Why?

He was human, that's why.

 _"I am too cut out to be a ninja! Just you wait, I'll become the strongest kunoichi ever, and one day I'll kick your ass!"_

Frankly, Hayate had always thought that everyone was capable of becoming a ninja. Everyone had some kind of potential in them. From Kurenai who specialized in Genjutsu to Gai who favored Taijutsu, _everyone_ was a genius or at least above average at something. It was just a question of what. They just needed someone to help them figure out _what_ they were good at.

 _'What would Shiro be good at?'_

Ninjutsu? Maybe.

Genjutsu? No way, she didn't have the patience for it.

Kenjutsu? Considering she thought Samurais were the coolest things after dragons, maybe.

Taijutsu? Hmm, no. Shiro preferred a flashier approach.

Fuinjutsu? Yeah, right. Shiro didn't have the patience for that either.

Smiling, Hayate decided, he would wait.

He'd wait for Shiro to come back and he'd help her discover what she was good at. Whether it be a skill that was useful for being a shinobi, or something mundane like pranks.

In the meantime, he'd help other kids.

He'd become an Academy instructor.

"Hayate-sensei," he tested out the form of address, liking the way it rolled off his tongue.

Hayate-sensei did have a nice ring to it, didn't it?

* * *

.o0o.o0o.

* * *

Shiro shook her head no.

"What about _Fu-sempai's small dick_?"

Shin did a spit take, coughing rather harshly.

Shiro couldn't help but laugh, despite the concern she felt for Shin. Because really, it was so like Sai to be a little anti-social shit even when he was friends with both her and Shin.

"R-rejected!" Shin finally exclaimed, ears red.

Shiro smiled, feeling accomplished for some reason. Maybe it was because six months ago, Shin barely laughed or got angry. But now? The boy expressed his emotions almost as freely as she did. And for some reason, Danzo still haven't done anything.

Shiro's smile dropped at the thought of Danzo.

It had been a year since she's seen Danzo in person. A year of brutal military-like training, focused on her then non-existent Taijutsu and Kenjutsu, under Fu-sempai and Torune-sempai. She'd like to think they warmed up to her, considering that they had stopped their methods of killing off her emotions. She considered that a win, because there was no way she'd give up her emotions.

What was the point of wanting to become strong if she wouldn't want to protect her precious people?

She bit the seal on her tongue, feeling a little uneasy. Surely, it couldn't be that easy to resist the kill-off-emotions-brainwashing, could it?

"What about _Shiro doesn't have a_ -"

"No, nothing that has to do with..." Shin trailed off.

Honestly, it was hilarious how reluctant Root members were to say 'dick' or any other term that refers to one's private parts. Well, the only exceptions to the almost stereotype like behavior being her and Sai.

"Dicks?" Shiro and Sai chorused in unison, both adapting an innocent-like expression.

"Gah!" Shin finally groaned, bunking both of them on their heads.

Shiro and Sai shared a smile, albeit Sai's smile screamed _fake_ and _creepy_ , but still, it was a smile.

"What about _Shin's tanto is compensa_ _ting for-_ "

"Enough," Shin cut Shiro off, "I got a name."

He watched as both Shiro and Sai perked up and wondered how he could have went from being a big-brother figure to an emotionally stunted boy to the voice of reason of an his odd trio consisting of the emotionally stunted Sai and the walking insanity inducer known as Shiro. Oh, right he was the one who started the whole friendship thing they had going on.

What was he thinking back then?

"What's the name?" Shiro curiously asked.

"Konoha-"

"No." Sai cut off, "Nothing too personal, remember?"

Shin sighed, coming up with a pen-name to publish their book under was harder than he expected.

"You're both useless," Shiro dramatically sighed, "Even Fu-sempai would be better at this."

"Yeah, well I don't see _you_ coming up with any brilliant ideas."

"She's dickless, that's why," Sai chimed in.

Shin was too tired to even try to lecture Sai.

"What about," Shiro clasped her hands together with a big grin, "S.S.S? It's our initials! Shiro, Sai, Shin!"

Shin blinked, sharing a look with Sai.

"Maybe she isn't so dickless."

Shin laughed.

* * *

.o0o.o0o.

* * *

"Dear Shiro," Shiro mumbled to herself, reading the first line of her mother's latest letter.

As usual, she skimmed over the words before returning the letter to its envelope and throwing it in the trash like the rest. A part of her wanted to write a reply, to tell her mother she was fine and to ask her mother to stop writing letters. After all, Shiro was now part of Root.

Despite how ballsy Shiro was being, there were things she wouldn't mess with in Root. Things she would rather avoid in Root. One of such things being drawing Danzo's interest in her mother. She didn't want Danzo to do anything with her mother, like force her to kill Akane or something. Call it paranoia, but Shiro was sure Danzo wasn't above ordering that in order to remove her emotions.

So, if she acted like she didn't care about the outside world, nothing would happen to Akane.

Torune-sempai and Fu-sempai's brainwash-into-killing-emotions methods were useful when it came to resisting the urge to contact her mother.

Shiro glanced at the cake she had received as well. For some reason, Danzo had given it to her. Had allowed and perhaps even given her permission to eat the cake. She wasn't sure if it was a trap or not, but...

Drool escaped her mouth as her stomach made a growling sound.

Maybe just one bite?

She grabbed the card attached to the cake.

It was signed by Mikoto, Fugaku, Itachi, Shisui and Sasuke.

She smiled to herself, ignoring the tears in the corner of her eyes.

They actually remembered that it was her birthday.

"Shiro?"

Automatically, Shiro discarded the card into the trash can and wiped at her eyes.

"Come in!"

The door to her room opened to reveal Sai, Shin, Torune and Fu.

She tilted her head to the side, "I thought the sleepover party was supposed to be next week?" she joked with a grin.

"You met up with Danzo-sama today, correct?" Fu was the first to ask.

Shiro nodded without hesitation, "Yep~!"

"And? What's going to be your specialization?" Shin curiously asked.

"Fuinjutsu!"

Fu and Shin were the only ones who looked surprised.

Sai and Torune? Well, they had figured it out considering Danzo allowed Shiro to indulge in writing. Writing had to do with calligraphy, which was arguably the most important part of Fuinjutsu.

"I see, congratulations," Torune nodded.

"So," Shiro started, seeing as the four were still awkwardly lingering at her door, "Want to join me for some cake?"

* * *

 _ **Chapter End.**_

* * *

 _ **Author's note:** well, sorry for the late update. Currently, Shiro is six years old, just like Naruto and the others. Danzo's acting weird. Shiro's well, Shiro. Hayate's made a big decision. And well, apparently Shiro's going to be trained in Fuinjutsu. Who would have guessed?_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _1\. What's going on in Danzo's head?_**

 ** _2\. What's Sai, Shin and Shiro's trio going to be like?_**


End file.
